Once dinner was determined to be French Onion soup, a lighter French-styled red seemed a perfect fit. That the Petit Rouge was in an easily accessible spot made things even easier. Funny that we're having a Le Vieux Pin wine so soon after we knocked back the Merlot during the Aussie Rules Grand Final. Only a couple of weeks have passed and we don't normally drink two bottles from the same winery in such close proximity.
The Petit Rouge is quite a different wine from the bigger Merlot however. If memory serves, the elephant's share of Petit Rogue and Petit White wines were sold to Rob Feenie and the Cactus Club restaurant chain to be used largely as a house wine. The idea was also to make an entry level wine for LVP from the fruit of their younger vines.
The Petit Rouge hasn't been made for too many vintages and I think the '08 might even be the first one produced. So far, the composition of the blend has varied from year to year. This inaugural 2008 wine consisted of mostly Merlot and Cab Sauv with a smaller amount of Pinot Noir added to both lighten the alcohol level and soften the palate - welcome results for matching it up with the dishes on Cactus Club's menu.
I don't know if Cactus Club serves up an onion soup but, if not, they might consider doing so because the pairing worked nicely for us. Indeed, I think we enjoyed the wine more with our food than on its own. Not too surprising, I suppose, when the wine's being made specifically with a restaurant in mind.
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