Mustard with sparkling wine

Mustard with sparkling wine for the festive table

Mustard with sparkling wine from Delouis is a Moutarde au Vin Pétillant from Champsac in the Limousin region, refined with 5 percent sparkling wine. Medium-hot, refined, and made for evenings when a cork is already popping.

Mustard with sparkling wine is a French mustard from Maison Delouis made from mustard seeds, spirit vinegar, water, sparkling wine, and salt. Five percent wine might sound like little, but it is exactly the amount needed to take the sharp edges off the heat. What remains is spice in evening attire, in a 100 g jar.

Wine and mustard have belonged together at this company from the very beginning. Georges Delouis stirred his first mustard from vinegar and wine back in 1885, and if you follow that thread, you eventually end up at the sparkling bottles. The circle closes in the mustard pot.

More refined than Dijon, without losing its edge

Even when unscrewing the lid, it smells of mustard seed and a bright, winey trace underneath that escapes the jar first.

The sparkling wine adds no sweetness, but rather length. On the spoon, the heat hits first, then the wine settles underneath and carries it forward instead of cutting it off. Spicy, creamy, festive—that is how you can grasp this jar, and none of those three words mean tame.

This is why this mustard tastes rounder than the Dijon mustard extra hot from the same house. It has heat, it just presents it more elegantly. If you have guests who like it spicy but don't want a battle, put this jar on the table.

For roasts, fish, and aged cheese

It loves special occasions: the Sunday roast, the Christmas goose, the fish on New Year's Eve.

When used to rub a roast before it goes into the oven, it creates a crust that tastes of more than just mustard alone. In a sauce for veal or poultry, a teaspoon is enough to bind the whole thing together. On a cheese board, it likes to stand next to an aged Comté—nutty, salty, dense—and the winey trace catches exactly that.

For a festive salad vinaigrette, mix a teaspoon of mustard, a tablespoon of vinegar, and three tablespoons of oil; no more effort is needed to make a leaf salad suddenly feel planned. For something fruitier, try the mustard with figs from the same line.

Philippe searched for the chefs of the world

When Philippe Delouis joined the company in 1964, his first big hit was a vinegar made from Limousin apples that didn't exist before.

To make it known, he traveled to meet chefs all over the world—not purchasing agents, but people who handle the ingredients themselves. Success proved him right, and the habit stuck: to this day, the recipes from Champsac are found in professional kitchens, not just kitchen cabinets.

In 1976, Philippe resumed the artisanal mustard production in Champsac, which his father Pierre had let fade away after 1940. This house has been making vinegar for 140 years, and the mustard is both: the oldest and the rediscovered. Much respect.

In 2004, Philippe handed over the reins to Gaël Brabant, and what remained was the signature style established by Philippe Delouis: recipes conceived in the kitchen, not in the marketing department.

It doesn't belong in boiling liquid

The mustard seeds soak for 2 hours before they are crushed and processed with the company's own vinegar; the wine is added at the end to preserve its finesse.

This is exactly why it does not belong in boiling liquid. Take the sauce off the heat and stir it in only then, otherwise the winey trace for which you chose it will evaporate. Once opened, it keeps for many weeks if refrigerated.

As a small gift for the turn of the year, it needs no explanation and still makes an impression. Other varieties can be found in our mustard category, and more for the table in sauces & spices.