A rare 1976 Burgundy wine to accompany a French beef stew without a recipe

Tonight at home, living a #Travelife, two guys came over for dinner and I made a French beef stew — or boeuf bourguignon — for the main course.

It was a really busy day that began at 6 AM with a major procedure at a hospital until early afternoon. Then I dropped by the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner, began dinner and then went to work as we are busy closing the next two issues of #Travelife Magazine in advance.

Scroll down to read more about a dinner of boeuf bourguignon last night…

I decided to make beef stew because I have been in a French state of mind since the weekend, having once again watched the movie The Hundred Foot Journey about a Michelin-starred restaurant in France and its proprietess and chefs.

Then I remembered a trip I’d done to Burgundy some years back in search of good wines and the best boeuf bourguignon in the area.

I also realised I hadn’t had a good beef stew in a while, and I wanted to make my own because the beef stew you usually get in commercial establishments in my part of the world is one made by cutting corners and it usually lacks depth in the sauce. Depth in a beef stew is achieved by a mixture of things including the use of very good wine, fresh herbs and lots of simmering. I also have a few other secret things for a delicious boeuf bourguignon.

A little practicality was involved as well in my decision to make beef stew.

I knew I could make the beef stew in advance until the point where the stew is going to be simmered for a few hours, and then I could leave for work and return just in time for dinner.

And voila. Entertaining made easy. 

This is exactly what I did. And as usual, I didn’t really have a recipe but just a way of doing a French beef stew in my mind. I also put two very good bottles of wine into the stew, and the result was a truly flavourful boeuf bourguignon of depth that was cleaned out completely by my guests.

And thank goodness I decided to make the beef stew, as well.

One of my guests brought a 1976 vintage of a great Burgundy wine with excellent provenance. Not only was this literally quite an old wine, but it was also made in DRC country, one of the most sanctified wine lands on earth.

And it’s so rare that this wine is not available on the open market at all. This guy only has two of these, in fact, in his pretty extensive collection of rare wines, and as of tonight he’s down to one.

As for the rest of us, well, with my rather tasty beef stew and a great wine like that, we were all certainly living a never-endingly delicious #Travelife.

PS: The French beef stew was such a success last night that I think I’m going to make a Korean beef stew — kalbi jim — next. Stay tuned…