French Wines for Weddings Part Two: Upgrading the Menu and Wines

Think French wines are only for toasting? What if the right wine pairing could transform your wedding menu into an unforgettable culinary experience? Discover how to elevate every course with the perfect French wines!

In our last article, we spoke of the events featured at a wedding weekend (Click here for our first article on French Wines for Weddings).

Here are some French wine suggestions to go with each event, for a gala occasion.

Rehearsal Dinner

The Rehearsal Dinner is time for some special wines, with perhaps 20-25 guests.

• The chilled salmon and roast leg of lamb go perfectly with several excellent French wines. With fewer guests involved, you might wish to consider other wine selections.
• This is the right occasion to bring out your treasured and saved family bottles of wine to share with close friends.
• You might wish to serve Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet with the salmon, and a fine Château Brane Cantenac with the lamb.
• Resist the temptation to serve a grand cru white wine here. There should be a succession of flavors, and a grand cru white Burgundy would upstage the Bordeaux.

Wedding Dinner

The Wedding Dinner or Wedding Luncheon depends, as mentioned, on the timing of the wedding itself.  The Wedding Dinner (which today averages some 150 persons) usually comes after a late afternoon wedding ceremony. As to the event itself, there are many options. It may be a formal dinner at a restaurant or club, again with family providing special wines and champagne), or a catered event at a special venue, such as a museum or historic site.

A more traditional dinner at a club or catered affair might be the following:

• Lobster or Crabmeat in pasty shells,
• followed by Beef Tournedos, with wild mushrooms and vegetables.
• Raspberry or Grand Marnier frozen soufflé,
• followed by the Wedding Cake.

The white wine should be festive and, to partner with the lobster, a fairly substantial wine. 

• Why not start with the white wine that the Bordelais themselves would serve on this festive occasion? Château Carbonnieux, an excellent classified Graves, is substantial and refreshing, without being too filling. It is a compliment to your guests.
• Why not follow it with a fine rich Burgundy, say a Mongeard-Mugneret Vosne Romanée?

The soufflé will be accompanied by an elegant Sauternes. Just remember that a little of this sweet wine goes a long way, so small glasses should be used! I suggest what the French themselves serve on state occasions – a Château Suduiraut.

And with the wedding cake will come the toasts of the bride and groom.

• Here again, glasses of champagne should be passed, the champagne itself having just been opened with those satisfying cork pops that indicate a celebration.  I suggest vintage champagne, 2002 if you can find it (Taittinger, Pol Roger). 

There is also Dom Perignon 2002, but let’s reserve that treasured bottle as your present for the young married couple!

Hopefully, this will help with your wedding plans. Please comment below if you have any pairing questions or suggestions! And don’t forget the honeymoon, how does a romantic trip to France sound?!