Listrac reds are boisterous, upmarket country wines. Powerful and full of rich tannins. Merlot and Petit Verdot flavours dominate the blend. They are at their best with the finest of simple, rustic foods: mushrooms, plenty of game birds, wild meat, fresh bread and good cheese. The combination is the basis of Serge Renaud’s “French Paradox.” Renaud, a scientist at Bordeaux University, was the first to prove the existence of the paradox which describes the ability to consume animal fats in healthy quantities as long as they are accompanied by sufficiently tannic wines. Ergo: Listrac.

SIMPLE THINGS AT THEIR BEST

Eating and drinking are one of the simplest, and most vital, pleasures. But first the food must be gathered and cooked. There are none better at this than the Magescq-based Le Relais De La Poste chefs, Jean and Jacques Coussau. Their two-star restaurant’s Landais-based cooking is perfect with a bottle of Fourcas-Borie. Specialities include: roast pigeon, partridge, hare, venison and an impressive variety of wild mushrooms. Their motto: cook simply with fresh produce. For those who could not go to there, I leave you a recipe of mine.

SALMIS OF WILD DUCK

Cut the meat from a fresh duck, keep the carcass. For the salmis sauce chop three shallots, slice two carrots, sauté in a saucepan with a spoonful of duck fat, add 150g chopped Bigorre ham and the duck carcass cut into pieces. Flame with Armagnac. When the shallots are golden add a spoonful of flour and scorch. Add a bottle of red wine, an equal amount of chicken stock and a large dash of Madeira. Season with salt, pepper, espelette, bouquet garni, an onion spiked with three cloves and five juniper berries. Simmer for at least an hour. Add the duck liver, simmer till cooked and continue to reduce slowly until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Put it all through a fine sieve and adjust the seasoning. Add twelve Paris mushrooms, each cut into four pieces, and fifteen baby onions. Brown the duck meat in its own fat. Layer the meat and the sauce in a copper mould. Cover and simmer on the stove or in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Add bread croutons with butter. Serve.