This month, the French Winophiles are dreaming of a Café Lunch in France, complete with bistro-style wine.
Read Jeff’s Invitation post here
https://foodwineclick.com/2026/06/25/join-the-french-winophiles-dreaming-of-a-cafe-lunch-winophiles/
The Bistro-style Wine
Bistro style is simple, so when we were last at Trader Joe’s, I looked for a wine to inspire this pairing. I found a Muscadet for just $7.99. With Trader Joe’s, this is bound to be a good wine, perfect for a bistro Lunch.
Muscadet from the Loire Valley
So we are dreaming of the Loire Valley in North West France. The Valley follows the Loire River, which flows from the Atlantic Ocean inland, with regions changing as you move east. The region closest to the ocean centers around Nantes, and the primary grape is Muscadet.
The region has several appellations, including Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire, Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu, and the region we will be discussing, Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine.
We say “Muscadet,” but the actual grape is Melon de Bourgogne. This grape originates in Burgundy (Bourgogne in French). It is a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc.
So how did it travel to the Nantes Region? The abbeys of the time often exchanged vines, and in 1616 you find records of Melon de Bourgogne in Nantes, near Avineaux.
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
Sur Lie
Vinobles Lacheteau 2024
This wine is dry and made “sur lie,” meaning it ages on the dead yeast cells. This adds body and weight to the wine.
I pulled this wine out to photograph it before I got started cooking, and I left it on the counter. With this wine, it is a mistake; you want it chilled. We started tasting once the meal was ready, and the wine was too warm and flat. We popped it in the freezer for 5 minutes, and it came out much more vibrant.
On the nose, even when warm, I got citrus, wet stone, and honeysuckle.
On the palate, mostly citrus notes. Once chilled, it had more green apple notes on the palate, along with bright lemon and a bit of minerality, like crushed gravel.
This wine is not explosive or deeply nuanced, but it is approachable and perfect for a bistro lunch!
Our Loire Valley Bistro style Pairing
Mussels in White Wine Sauce & Salad Chèvre Chaud
Muscadet goes wonderfully with seafood. Little wonder there, as this region is so close to the sea. We chose mussels to go with our wine. I’ll be honest, this was a bit of laziness. It is easy and inexpensive to pick up frozen mussels in a white wine sauce. You can cook them in 10 minutes in a pan on the stove, with little work.
Our salad was a simple, topped with Chèvre Chaud. Ah, Chèvre Chaud, it’s just hot cheese, specifically hot goat cheese served on French bread.
Ideally this would be a Chèvre with a rind, but that’s hard to find in the States. So I just picked up a log of fresh goat cheese and a baguette and made do. Slice a baguette into ¾-inch slices, top each with a coin of goat cheese, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and bake at 325 F for 10 minutes. Then briefly toast them under the broiler. (I say briefly. I mean it. And keep a watch on them! I looked away for a moment, and they burst into flames! No worries, I had more baguette and redid them)
While bread and cheese are glorious on their own, we all like to be a little healthy, and I was ready for a bit of salad. The Chèvre Chaud is typically served on a composed salad. I spread the plate with baby red butter lettuce and decided to forego the typical tomato slices (just wasn’t in the mood). Typically the salad is topped with lardons and walnuts. Lardons were not available, and sliced bacon seemed too pedestrian, so I picked up some cubed pancetta. This was rendered in a pan, then I pulled it out and dropped in some walnuts, toasting them in the fat. The salad was topped with Pancetta and walnuts, and finished with a vinaigrette of olive oil, sherry vinegar, stone-ground mustard, chives, salt & pepper.
Top with 2 slices of Chèvre Chaud and you are ready for lunch.
How did it pair?
The wine was balanced with salad and Chèvre Chaud.
The smokiness of the Pancetta played nicely with the wine. In some bites, there is a sweetness in the mussels which brings out sweet fruit notes.
All in all, this was very satisfying.
For more delicious wine and Bistro of Café pairings, check out my colleagues’ articles below!
• Terri at Our Good Life shares “Summer Berry Salad with a Cabernet just Right for Summer at La Belle Vie”
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Galette Completes paired with a Vigné-Lourac Les Perles”
• Camilla at Culinary Cam shares “Pan Bagnat + Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis Blanc 2024”
• Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog shares “An Alpine Sparkler for a Parisian Classic: Croque Madame & Crémant de Savoie”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Lunch in a French Café: Quiche!“
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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