Côtes du Rhône wines are delicious sipped with Tandoori Cote de Boeuf recipe devised by Masterchef: The Professionals finalist Exose Grant Lopo-Ndinga

A glass of Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc, Guigal, as the creamed mushrooms and spinach is prepared

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Jane Clare of One Foot in the Grapes takes up the Côtes du Rhône Wines "cook at home" challenge and discovers tandoori beef and the classic French wines are a perfect match

There are some meals destined to hold a place in your heart.

This is the story about one which will always be brought out in the “oooo, do you remember when” chit-chat as the occasion arises.

Because who would have thought that tandoori beef and classic French wines would be a perfect match?

Preparing the spicy tandoori marinade for the at home with Côtes du Rhône evening

I was invited by Côtes du Rhône Wines to spend an evening at home, cooking, sipping wines and then appraising the results.

They didn’t have to ask twice.

Wine making in Côtes du Rhône goes back 2,000 years. Today many of the wine producers are family businesses, going back generations.

The wines from the region have quality classifications which are easy to understand and very good value indeed.

The Cote de Boeuf nestles and marinades in its cushion of spiced loveliness

The appellation Côtes du Rhône covers both the north and south of the Rhône Valley. Wines carrying the fantastic value Villages classification are to be found in the southern Rhône.

Across the Rhône, the grapes syrah (mainly in the north) grenache, and mourvèdre (mainly in the south) are the kingpins of red styles.

White grapes viognier, clairette, grenache blanc, marsanne and roussanne create tumbling flavours to white wines.

The Rhône region has some delicious white wines. It’s not red all the way in these parts.

Domaine Pique-Basse La Brusquembille, from Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Roaix

And there’s one region – Tavel – which is dedicated solely to the production of rosé wines. A total of 12 grape varieties can be used, though all must include grenache noir.

Back to my beast of a feast which definitely wasn’t a burden.

The culinary star was this: Tandoori Cote de Boeuf.

The recipe I followed was created by chef Exose Grant Lopo-Ndinga who reached the final of MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019.