Taste the Sun in Provence Marinaside’s August Feature Menu

Taste the Sun with Provence Marinaside’s
August Winery Menu

For Provence Marinaside’s August Winery Menu, Chef Quaglia and Wine Director Joshua Carlson collaborated to present the ultimate summer pairing – heirloom tomatoes from Klippers Organics matched with beautiful wines from the Similkameen Valley’s Clos du Soleil (fun fact: Dr. Bonnie Henry is one of the winery’s owners).

From now through mid-September you can enjoy this special two-course Heirloom Tomato with Clos du Soleil Menu for only $62. The optional wine pairing is available as a regular pour ($25) and petit pour ($15). If guests don’t wish to have the full pairing, wines may be purchased individually by the glass or the bottle.

“The heirloom tomato is the ultimate summer flavour. They are the taste of the sun, and remind me of long summer days when I was a child in Provence,” says Provence Marinaside’s Owner / Executive Chef Jean Francis Quaglia. “They are so versatile. Tomatoes can be enjoyed any number of ways – chopped into salsas, sliced into salads, juiced, roasted, dried – there are almost as many ways to prepare them as there are heirloom varieties.”

“For me the wines of Clos du Soleil were the obvious pairing choice,” comments Carlson. “They produce ultra-premium quality wines, borrowing an aesthetic derived from the great wines of Bordeaux, but stamped with the flavours and aromas of their particular piece of rocky Similkameen land. Through traditional winemaking techniques, informed by research, but adhering to the philosophies of minimal-interventionist winemaking and biodynamic viticulture, they produce wines that are complex and elegant.”

The Featured Winery Menu dishes are unique to it and do not appear on Provence Marinaside’s regular menu. As with previous Winery Menus, this one also contains a QR code so that guests can access more information on the winery/ featured wines. Carlson has also added a featured winery page in the wine list which gives technical notes on the wines.

Heirloom Tomato and Clos Du Soleil Menu
Winemaker: Michael Clark

Two-course Menu: $62
Two-course Wine Pairing: $25
Two-course Petit Pour: $15

First Course
Choose One

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho
Dungeness crab, micro-greens salad, tomato granita

Clos du Soleil Rosé 2020
Malbec
$15 glass / $60 bottle

The Malbec grapes for this Rosé were grown specifically for this wine, on a steep, southern-facing slope of Clos du Soleil’s La Côte Vineyard on the Upper Bench of the Similkameen Valley. From a winemaking perspective the focus was on gentle-handling of the juice and wine, to protect the beautiful flavours and aromas of wild strawberries, cranberries, ripe cherries, and lime zest.

Heirloom Tomato Sampler with Burrata
Fresh tomato and basil salsa; Dijon, tomato and Kalamata olive tarte
Stewed heirloom tomato

Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Series ‘La Côte Vineyard’ Viognier 2020
$15 glass /$60 bottle

The grapes for this wine were grown in Clos du Soleil’s “La Côte” vineyard, on the Upper Bench of the Similkameen Valley (vineyard in transition to organic status). The grape clusters were harvested by hand at peak maturity, and then pressed very gently, whole cluster. After a brief settling, the juice was fermented in old, neutral puncheons of French oak, and then aged in those puncheons, on the lees for 6 months. The perfumed nose is full of ripe fruit: peaches and nectarines, pineapple and mango, with notes of wild flowers.

Second Course
Choose One

Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Braised Lamb and Spiced Couscous
Tomato coulis, sautéed arugula

Clos du Soleil Winemaker’s Series ‘Middle Bench Vineyard’ Syrah 2017
$16 glass / $64 bottle

Hand-harvested at peak maturity, the grapes for this wine were very gently de-stemmed, crushed, and then fermented in small-lot open top fermenters for a full month with daily manual punch downs before pressing. It was then aged for 16 months in French oak barrels with 12% new oak. As in all Clos du Soleil wines, the focus was on attention to detail, minimal interventions, and the expression of terroir. With a full mouthfeel structured on a backdrop of stony tannins, this exclusive and limited-production Syrah is an opportunity to see another side of Clos du Soleil.

Tomato Acquerello Risotto with
Grilled Prawns and Branzino
Grilled tomato, tomato confit, baby basil

Clos du Soleil Capella 2019
Sauvignon Blanc / Sémillion
$16 glass / $64 bottle

Each vineyard block was separately harvested, by hand, at peak maturity. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed, and then fermented entirely in barrel (82% French oak puncheons, 18% stainless steel barrels) with the majority undergoing only wild, spontaneous fermentation. One quarter of the barrels were also allowed to undergo wild malolactic fermentation. All lots were barrel aged for nine months, on the lees, with lees stirring. The final wine was created by blending together just the very best barrel lots, in order to create a wine of true complexity and elegance.

Summer in the city doesn’t get any better than this – heirloom tomatoes and beautiful Clos du Soleil wines. Reservations are always a good idea to secure your table in the dining room or one of the coveted patio tables overlooking the False Creek Seawall and Quayside Marina. It’s easy to imagine yourself on the Côte d’Azur.

Provence notes:
Provence Marinaside is committed to the health and safety of its guests and staff in keeping with the protocols set by the BC Ministry of Health. You can find the details of Provence’s standards here.

Provence is open every day for Dine-In service inside and on its patios overlooking the False Creek Seawall and the Quayside Marina – Brunch (M-F: 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Sat & Sun: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.), Lunch (M-F: 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.), Dinner (Mon – Sun: 5 – 10 p.m.) and Happy Hour (Mon – Sun: 3-5 p.m.). Late Night (every day 10-11 p.m.). Enjoy Live Jazz every Wednesday from 6 – 9 p.m. Reservations are recommended.

In addition to Dine-In service, Provence Marinaside continues to offer its regular menus for brunch, lunch and dinner for Provence at Home Takeout. If you prefer to cook Provence’s food in the comfort of your own kitchen, they also offer four French Food Made Easy kits.

Provence Marinaside is also supporting The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre with the donation of meals and funds along with a donation option on their should the public also wish to support the organization. Details can be found on Provence Marinaside’s Home Page.

Media release and images provided by Nancy Wong, Culinary Communications.