Perfect Pairings

I love attending winemaker's dinners in local restaurants. I feel that it's the best way to fully express the intentions for the wine when they are paired with food. I especially enjoy the intimate setting where new friends are made and new revelations are manifested as the food and wine are absorbed. However, last night I attended a very special winemaker dinner. While I had my wines with me and talked about the winery and our vision for the Rhone varietals and blends as I usually do, something unusual occured.

The quaint group had a chance to hear from Chef Christophe from the kitchen of his old world Alsacian restaurant, Bistro La Petite France. Christophe described how his old world method of cooking isn't just in the recipes, it's the ingredients. Similar to boutique winemaking, Christophe enchanted guests as he talked about the meyer lemons that were traded for his house salad dressing and eventually were served in our Meyer Lemon Mousse. Christophe used Wild Boar 3 ways with his Sausage from a local purveyor that uses no preservatives or other ingredients. Consistant with his message, he talked about using ingredients that are in season, never pushing a dish to be something that nature hasn't intended.

His words echoed close to my heart because of the similarities with our winemaking philosophy.  We choose varietals that are meant for the climate and soil type, we harvest according to flavors, and we won't press a wine until it tastes perfect. At the end of the evening I realized that this was a perfect pariring of winery and restaurant.

An introduction was made with a traditional crispy lump crab cake with carrot, tarragon, and fuji apple slaw, topped with Spanish Smoked Paprika garlic aioli. Served with DGV 2008 Viognier Roussanne.

Followed by a golden frisee salad with Muscovy smoked duck medallions, grilled pineapple and cilantro vinaigrette. Served with DGV 2008 Grenache.

We then arrived at the wild boar 3 ways with his sausage, apple cider braised red cabbage and fennel ragout, and bacon butter spaetzle. Paired with DGV 2006 Coeur Rouge. This was my favorite pairing because of the feelings that were evoked when a pairing is so seamless that it truly brings comfort. In comfort we can begin to make new friendships and fully enjoy our experience.

Lastly, the local meyer lemon mousse with sparkling wine sabayon and a spicy caramel bridle was served with our 2009 Late Harvest Viognier.

So many flavors worked so well together.  Many of our classic flavor pairings were incorporated. The cilantro and the Grenache, the tarragon and our viognier-roussanne, and the lemon with the Viognier.

In this pairing, the protein was equally paired well. Crab with Viognier-Roussanne, smoked duck with Grenache, and Wild Boar with Coeur Rouge. These are also pairings that we know work well.

However, it's always the secret ingredients that the chef incorporates that make the dishes so special at winemaker dinners. In this case, each dish was paired so well and I think the guests really enjoyed a perfect pairing.