When I lived in Paris I enrolled in a wine course at Le Cordon Bleu to boost my (nonexistent) wine knowledge. I dreamed of confidently swirling glasses and dropping polished tasting notes at future wine gatherings. I even imagined someday running a vineyard like a movie couple. The plan sounded glamorous—until I saw the syllabus.
The program included a surprising amount of homework and weekly quizzes. Concerned that studying would cut into my prime wine-drinking time, 23-year-old me decided, “Non, merci!” and walked out after the first class. I’ve regretted that impulsive choice ever since. As I’ve gotten older and stayed in the food-and-drink world, wine feels increasingly intimidating. Colleagues casually discuss appellations, vintages, and terroir, and I find myself nodding along while wishing I had better vocabulary than, “This Chardonnay tastes like trees and butter…not great.”
So when Barton & Guestier invited me to an evening with their head winemaker, Laurent Prada, and Hubert Surville, B&G USA’s COO, I jumped at the chance. I replied with an enthusiastic, “A thousand times, yes!!!” and joined them at Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro for a private tasting and a crash course in French wine.
On the night I met them I was oddly nervous. Barton & Guestier is no small operation: founded in Bordeaux in 1725, it’s a long-established French house producing both AOC and varietal wines across all major French regions. Laurent Prada’s résumé includes time in Champagne, the Languedoc, and Bordeaux—experience that can be intimidating if you still sometimes sip cheap boxed wine and have to Google “AOC.”
My worries quickly disappeared. Hubert and Laurent were warm, approachable, and clearly passionate about making French wine accessible. Their attitude reflects B&G’s mission: help wine lovers discover and understand the great wines of France without pretension.
Barton & Guestier partners with about 200 winegrowers and follows strict guidelines to deliver consistent quality and style. I tasted seven different wines that evening—whites, reds, and rosés—and found them uniformly enjoyable. Equally appealing: most bottles retail for roughly $12–$15, a price point that makes exploring French regions easy on the wallet.
My favorites were the Côtes de Provence Rosé and the Vouvray from B&G’s Passeport line. Those labels are designed to be user-friendly, with clear tasting descriptors that help shoppers choose wines by style and region. Both wines are light, balanced, and remarkably versatile—perfect for summer meals like salads, grilled fish, cheese boards, or the spaghetti dish that follows.
This pasta—spaghetti with zucchini ribbons, fresh cherry tomato sauce, and mozzarella pearls—is one of my favorite summer go-tos. It’s bright, fresh, and comes together quickly. The zucchini lightens the dish, the raw cherry tomato sauce is vibrant, and the mozzarella adds creaminess. Serve it with grilled bread, a big green salad, and a chilled rosé or Vouvray for a simple but impressive summer meal.
A few quick tips before you start: because the cherry tomatoes remain raw, choose the best quality you can find—farmers market fruit is ideal, otherwise pick the reddest, plumpest clamshell at the store. The recipe’s spaghetti-to-zucchini ratio is about 3:1, but you can increase the zucchini for a lighter dish. If you don’t own a spiralizer, a julienne peeler or a sharp chef’s knife will do the job.
Cheers to a delicious, wine-filled long weekend!
Spaghetti with Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Sauce: (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 large (8- to 10-inch) zucchini
¾ pound spaghetti (about ¾ of a standard box)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces fresh mozzarella pearls
For the Cherry Tomato Sauce:
3 cups cherry tomatoes
3 large cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and roughly chopped
12 fresh basil leaves, torn
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ teaspoon sugar (optional)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preparing your Spaghetti with Zucchini and Cherry Tomato Sauce:
– Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
– Spiralize the zucchini using the blade that makes spaghetti-like noodles. If you don’t have a spiralizer, julienne the zucchini with a julienne peeler or slice into thin ribbons with a knife. Pat the zucchini noodles dry with paper towels and set aside.
– Make the tomato sauce by placing all sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times until you have a chunky, rustic sauce—don’t over-process; you want texture. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a large mixing bowl.
– Cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions, then drain.
– Immediately add the hot spaghetti to the bowl with the tomato sauce and toss to coat. Let the pasta rest for about 2 minutes to absorb some sauce.
– While the pasta finishes cooking, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Add the zucchini noodles, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes until just tender—be careful not to overcook.
– Add the zucchini noodles to the bowl with the pasta and toss to combine. Fold in the mozzarella pearls and toss gently.
– Serve the pasta immediately. It’s equally delicious warm or at room temperature. Garnish with torn basil leaves if desired.
Spaghetti with Zucchini and Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini, 8–10 inches
- ¾ pound spaghetti
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella pearls
For the Cherry Tomato Sauce:
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes
- 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 12 fresh basil leaves, torn
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sugar (optional)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- Spiralize or julienne the zucchini into noodle-like ribbons. Pat dry and set aside.
- Make the sauce by pulsing the cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic, crushed red pepper, and sugar (if using) in a food processor until chunky. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the spaghetti until al dente, then drain.
- Toss the hot spaghetti with the tomato sauce and let rest 2 minutes to absorb flavor.
- In a skillet, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil and sauté the zucchini noodles for about 2 minutes until just tender. Combine zucchini with the pasta and sauce, fold in the mozzarella pearls, and serve immediately.
Notes
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This post is brought to you by Barton & Guestier. All opinions are my own. I only partner with brands I genuinely support—thank you for supporting the companies that help keep Domesticate ME! going.