The iodized notes of the Champagne blanc de blancs go very well with a seafood platter, especially oysters.
The essentials
The briny notes of Blanc de Blancs Champagne make it a natural pairing with a seafood platter, particularly oysters. Benjamin Gilles, a gourmet chef in Chigny-les-Roses, has been applying this principle for nearly seven years in collaboration with Champagne houses.
- Which Champagne should you serve with oysters?
- According to Champagne’s gourmet chefs, blanc de blancs Champagne is recommended as an accompaniment to oysters, thanks to its briny notes which echo the seafood flavours of a seafood platter.
- Which rosé Champagne should you choose to pair with duck or confit meats?
- A rosé Champagne made from Pinot Noir and Meunier, which has already been aged for eight to ten years, is the perfect accompaniment to duck, ducklings and confit meats, according to Benjamin Gilles.
- Which Champagne should you choose for a land-and-sea pairing, combining meat and fish?
- Benjamin Gilles recommends a characterful blanc de noirs, made from Pinot Noir grapes from the Montagne de Reims — renowned for their fruitiness and full-bodied character — to bring out the best in dishes combining meat and fish.
Blanc de blancs with oysters, aged rosé with duck: a gourmet chef from Champagne reveals his tips for pairing Champagne.
2 min read
The advice of Benjamin Gilles, chef of the gastronomic restaurant "Couvert de vignes".
"A good dish, a good Champagne, and that's it." Nothing complicated to indulge at the time of the holidays for Benjamin Gilles, chef of the gastronomic restaurant of Chigny-les-Roses, "Couvert de vignes". He has been working for nearly seven years alongside the champagne houses to sublimate their greatest vintages.
From the aperitif to the cheese, Benjamin Gilles plays on the flavors to concoct choice marriages.
His favorite? "Land-sea pairings, fragrant dishes that combine meat and fish, to be enjoyed with a blanc de noirs of character"). As a good defender of his terroir, Benjamin Gilles puts forward, for this type of dish, the Pinot Noirs of the Montagne de Reims, fruity and full-bodied. To compose these menus according to the champagnes offered, Benjamin Gilles refers to unavoidable codes. "The freshness of Chardonnay encourages us to turn to fish, shellfish and citrus fruits.
The iodized notes of blanc de blancs go very well with a seafood platter, especially oysters." If the chardonnay can accompany poultry, the vintages made of pinot noir and meunier will be able to marry fragrant meats, "duck, duckling, candied meats... I find it ideal with a rosé that has already aged eight or ten years". Some rules are golden, but Benjamin Gilles does not refrain from revisiting gastronomy, with compositions that are out of the ordinary. "I like to say that we cook with a commitment. Our dishes are surprising, with foods that are found where they are not expected. Carrots or butternut for dessert, for example. Or persimmon, raspberry, braised watermelon as a starter. We can have fun using an ingredient from the starter to the dessert like that. We also work a lot on colors, as was the case in the fall, with a play on orange and brown tones. We had pumpkin, chestnut and mimolette for starters, butternut for the main course, and pineapple and passion fruit for dessert." A refined cuisine and ever more advanced agreements made to awaken the five senses.
Restaurant Couvert de Vignes
4 bis Place Pommery
51500 Chigny-les-Roses
Tel : 03 26 05 86 31
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