![](https://culinarytravelsinfrance.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/5e29b-marcillac1.jpg?w=529)
Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small yellow onion, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp. cognac
1 cup red wine vinegar
3 cups Marcillac, Cahors, or other hearty red wine
3 cups veal stock
Cracked black pepper
4 6-oz. beef filets, each about 1 1⁄2″ thick
Coarse salt
2 tbsp. butter, cubed
Directions:
Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a heavy pot over medium heat, add carrots, celery, and onions, and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes.
Add cognac and carefully ignite (leave the eyebrows) with a kitchen match; when flames die out, add vinegar, wine, veal stock, and 1 tbsp. pepper. Reduce heat to low and reduce sauce by three-quarters, about 1 1/2 hours. Strain, discard solids, and set sauce aside.
Season filets to taste with salt. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a heavy skillet over high heat until hot. Add filets and cook for 7 minutes on each side, then transfer to four plates.
Reduce heat to medium, add sauce to skillet, whisk in butter, then spoon sauce over filets.
Wine Pairing Suggestions:
When the wine suggestion is obvious I like to keep things simple without calling to the dark arts of wine pairing for help. My little rule of thumb is that if a dish calls for a wine then I like to, if at all possible, have that same wine with my meal.
Marcillac is a small (but steadily growing) appellation of the South-West region of France. Granted AOC status in 1990, it covers the red and rose wines produced in eleven communes around the village of Marcillac-Vallon in the Aveyron administrative district. Marcillac wines are made predominantly from the rustic, local grape variety Fer Servadou. The Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Franc and Merlot are also permitted for use in very small quantities, to temper the tannic nature of Fer Servadou. The typical Marcillac wine is spicy and aromatic.
2007 Domaine du Cros Lo Sang del Pais (Fer Servadou grape)
2006 Domaine du Cros Cuvee Vieilles Vignes (Fer Servadou grape)
Cahors is a red wine from grapes grown in or around the town of Cahors, France. Cahors, like Marcillac, is an Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) which forms part of the South West France wine region. The dominant grape variety in AOC Cahors wines is Malbec, which must make up a minimum of 70% of the wine, and which is known locally as “Côt”, “Côt Noir” or “Auxerrois
2005 Chateau Fontaynes – Cahors Cuvee Bastien
2007 Château du Cèdre – Cahors