Pascal Aufranc 2006 Chenas

Jenny was at the market yesterday and stopped by Sosio's to pick up vegetables for dinner. Nothing caught her eye until she alit upon some garlic shoots, also called garlic "scapes," you can see a decent photo here. I'd never tasted or prepared them before, and none of my books had anything to say about them, even the bible.

On the way home I picked up a chicken breast, planning to saute it and make a simple pan sauce with the cut up garlic shoots. The bunch we had was pretty big, too big to put all of it the sauce, so I steamed the rest, finishing them with butter, salt and pepper.

They were delicious. Raw they had a strong peppery bite, but once cooked they were very mild, tasting vaguely like asparagus spears. I think I preferred them just steamed with a touch of sweetness from the butter; in the pan sauce they were overwhelmed by the other flavors.

This wine went very nicely with dinner. Chenas is the smallest of the 10 Crus in France's Beaujolais region, and this bottle tasted like a really concentrated Beaujolais. $15 from McCarthy and Schiering, and worth the price.