Is what is good for the Goose good for the Gander?

Yes, I know they're ducks...

A lot of g's in there, I know. But there is a reason for it.

Having been asked if an Alsace Riesling or Gewurtztraminer would be a good match with a roast goose, I imagined this would work well, although I did not have this particular roast fowl to hand to actually taste it.

I like the idea of serving a good white wine with roast goose, and I began to think of all the other wines likely to go with it.

A Vouvray demi-sec from Huet perhaps or a Montlouis from Les Loges de la Folie?

Then, chancing upon Jancis Robinson's latest FT magazine column in which she tentatively suggests a white Hermitage 2008 from Tardieu-Laurent ("A white to drink with goose even?") as a good accompaniment to goose, I thought a good white Saint Joseph would also do the trick.

But my mind was constantly brought back to the virtues of a mature Cahors from Clos Triguedina or Mas del Périé..

Is this not the best sort of wine to go with the goose or the gander?

This reminded me of a stay in a small village near Figeac blessed with a fine restaurant frequented by the locals, serving magrets, confits and all the products of the duck (see photo above), but also, more rarely, of the goose. Geese could be spotted by the keener eye in the fields roundabout, and the wines favoured locally were Cahors, but also Buzet, Bergerac and Gaillac.

So the choice is wide and will demand a lot of tasting and roasting, but at this time of year that is not a hardship.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions.