Saturday Night – Perfect Pairings

This Saturday was my night to cook. Most times I make a meal and then find a wine to pair with it. This Saturday I went the other way as I had two wines that I wanted to have.

The first wine was a 2002 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, that I put in the fridge about a month ago and didn’t get to it. I was worried that 2002 is a bit old for a Sauvignon Blanc and put a bottle of 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc in the fridge just in case.

The second wine was a 1999 Chassagne-Montrachet White Burgundy. I’d picked this up on my last trip to the US back in November and was looking forward to trying it. I did toss a more recent Chardonnay in the fridge just in case this one had past its prime as well.

"Grab the Handle"

I picked French Onion soup as my pairing for the Sauvignon Blanc. I hadn’t made French Onion in a while and on a cold day, a nice hearty soup is wonderful.

Once Mick and Amy arrived I opened the Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc and handed it to my wife to pour out as I got back to adding the croutons and cheese to the soup. Then at the last moment I remembered my concerns about the age of the wine – “Dear, just pour out a glass for Mick and see what he thinks…”

As I was adding the last bit of cheese to the soup before broiling it, Mick piped up from the living-room, “Smells like rotten apples” follow by “and it doesn't taste much better than that either!”

He held up the glass and I got my first look – the wine was a deep yellow, almost amber colour which would be great for a dessert wine but not so good for a Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc tends to be very pale in colour. I tried a sip of the wine, it wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever tasted but it wasn’t good either.

I decided to break out the Kim Crawford instead. I won’t go into much detail as I have covered the Kim Crawford before –

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2008/01/saturday-night-dinner-love-boat-edition.html

It was a very good match to the French Onion. The type of match where you are licking the glass and looking at the empty bottle like you just lost your best friend.

Generally most white wines you want to drink sooner than later and most reds will benefit from some aging.

"Mmm... Mold"

For the main course I needed something to pair with the 1999 Chassagne-Montrachet White Burgundy (Chardonnay). I went with a Chicken Caesar Salad.

I removed the covering from the Chardonnay and was greeted by a little mold over the top of the cork. “Great” I thought to myself another wine that is no good. I removed the cork and despite the mold was in good shape. I gave the bottle a tentative sniff and smiled - no strong musty odors. I poured out a glass and took a small sip, now I was wearing an even bigger grin as there was nothing wrong with this wine.

"Whoa... Garlic"

I poured out the wine, plated the Caesar and we settled down to dinner. As good as the first match was this was even better. The garlic and lemon of the Caesar really brought this wine to life. This was a huge wine but at the same time very subtle. I was kicking myself that I only bought the one bottle. The I bought this from Premier Group for $44.99 US (so about $73 CDN after duty and taxes) .

Wine Spectator – 89

Fernand & Laurent Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1999

Smooth and supple, but what's there is very seductive, with honey, lemon, pear, green apple and spice and smoke. Full-bodied, with a balanced finish. Drink now through 2005. –PM

Remember what I said about most whites "drink sooner than later…" White Burgundy may not fall in the category of “most whites”.

"Blue Cheese+Port = Heaven!"

For dessert we had a cheese tray and 40 year old Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port for dessert. It was part of a kit where you got a half bottle of the 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old Tawny port. We picked this kit up for New Year’s but never got chance to crack it open. A few years ago, we purchased a similiar gift box and we agreed the 30-year old tawny port was actually superior to the 40. We haven’t yet tried the 30 year but the 40 year was excellent. Blue Cheese and Port is another match made in heaven.

There are some evenings where you miss with the wine and food pairings and on other nights you just nail it. This Saturday I was very blessed with not one but three exceptional pairings. What makes these pairings even more special is a year or two ago I would have gone with a California wine as my comfort zone was with the region and the wines produced their. Not a single California wine was served this evening and with great results. If you are hooked on a wine region, maybe think about stepping outside your comfort zone and trying something new, you never know what you might be missing.

I’d love feedback from anyone reading this, please feel free to post your comments and suggestions.

Cheers!

Mark,