2010 Villa Dria, South-West France, France, IGP Côtes de Gascogne

Recipe: Toast with eggplant, zucchini and taleggio

Preparation time: 20 minutes 
Ingredients (for 4 persons):

• 1 eggplant 
• 1 zucchini 
• olive oil 
• 250g taleggio 
• 8 slices of bread 
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°c and heat a grill as well. Cut the eggplant and zucchini in lengthwise slices of +/- 3mm. Arrange the slice on the grill and lightly grill them on both sides. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Toast the slices of bread and also sprinkle them with a little olive oil.

Divide the vegetables over the toasts, add the taleggio and some pepper. Place them in the oven under the grill for a few minutes. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

About this wine

Villa Dria is a family estate of 46 hectares.

With a good sense of respect for the land and for the equilibrium of the plant, they have been growing vines on this domain in an alternative sustainable way for 20 years already. The utilization of organic fertilizers and plant extracts, and the use of geo-biology for the harmonization of the energy of each plot, have enabled the stimulation of the natural defenses of the vines and boosted microbial activity in the soil. They have been able to greatly reduce the amount of conventional chemicals employed and thus preserve the biodiversity of the land and enhance its expression.

Average yield: 70 hl/ha

Harvesting: Early in the morning when the temperature is still low, the grapes are picked, separated from their stalks, sorted, protected against oxidation and quickly transported to the winery.

Winemaking : The first fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats for a period of 3 weeks. This is followed by pneumatic pressing, the malolactic fermentation and maturation on fine lees. The wines are bottled on the estate.