---

An interview with Jacques and Laurent Pourcel at Château Palmer

Born in the Languedoc region, Jacques and Laurent Pourcel are strongly influenced by tastes from their region. They freely acknowledge that their cuisine draws on childhood memories, a good understanding of Languedoc food and wine, and experiences in neighbouring countries.

In fact, Languedoc cuisine is more Spanish than Italian in style - strong, spicy flavours with powerful aromas. Despite this southern Mediterranean influence and a few reservations to begin with, Jacques and Laurent Pourcel agreed to create the 2005 Harmonies de Palmer menu...

What is your philosophy about matching wine and food?

It can be summed up in one word - harmony. There should be a real exchange - almost a dialogue - between the dish and the wine that accompanies it.

The dish must retain its flavours and the wine must enhance rather than overwhelm or contradict them. As for the wine, it should please the palate and subtly prolong the enjoyment of tasting the food.

Combining flavours is challenging, but hugely rewarding.

Was matching Château Palmer's elegant, understated wine with exuberant southern cuisine difficult or, on the contrary, a natural pairing?

Oh, it was far from obvious, and a fairly daring thing to do! We had to forget preconceived notions and take risks. Obviously, we were not able to change the wines, so we had to adapt our recipes to Château Palmer! And it was a great pleasure to plan a menu around such great wines.

How did you choose the dishes to accompany the various vintages on the Harmonies de Palmer menu? Did you focus more on texture, flavour, or aromas?

Everything!

Seeing as the name of this menu stresses harmony, everything is important. The aim is to achieve a perfect balance between food and wine. This encompasses texture, flavour, aroma, seasoning, vegetable accompaniment, etc. Nothing can be left to chance.

We usually emphasise the flavours of our Languedoc cuisine by highlighting sharp and bitter tastes. However, we produced dishes that are less striking, but more velvety and elegant to go with Château Palmer.