Saturday Night – Kim cooks up a storm – Part 2

The second course of the evening was an Asian pear salad with spiced walnuts and creamy poppy-seed dressing. On this one I decided to go with a sweet to semi sweet German Riesling as I was concerned the sweetness of the pears and the dressing would reek havoc with a dry wine. I looked at a couple of Kabinett Rieslings but worried they wouldn’t be sweet enough and then saw a 2007 Selbach Oster Spãtlese Riesling and went with it instead.

"John getting Ethan started early on the wine... Disclaimer - no babies were consuming wine in or during the making of this photo."

Mick, as we were discussing the wines and menu on the way over, thought that the Spätlese Riesling would be way too sweet and that I should have gone with a Kabinett instead.

Opening and pouring out the wine, you got a nice nose of pear, peach and nutmeg. I was surprised at tasting the wine as it as you got a frizzante like feel in the mouth but there were no visible bubbles in the glass. The main flavours on this were honey and green apple. The structure of this wine was impressive as it carried a fair amount of sweetness but the acidity balanced the wine out perfectly. It was a really good match for the salad.

"Asian Pear Salad"

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 89, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy – 86, Overall – 87.75

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

SELBACH-OSTER RIESLING SPÄTLESE 2007

VINTAGES 970368
750 mL bottle

Price: $ 28.95

Wine, White Wine,

11.5% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : M

Made in: Moselle, Germany

By: J.&H. Selbach Weinkellerei

Release Date: Nov 22, 2008

Tasting Note - Medium straw with aromas of slate, crabapple, key lime, peach and apricot. This medium-in-sweetness wine, with balanced acid, is an exceptional example of young German Riesling. Remarkably full-bodied for a lighter alcohol wine, its finish is extremely long and wonderfully balanced. Cellar it up to 20 years or enjoy it with grilled prawns. (VINTAGES panel, Sept. 2008)

Note – the LCBO is listing the alcohol as 11.5% but the bottle is listing at 8%.

"Bubbles?"

Mick was a big enough man to admit that the wine was a great match for the salad and this again was another bottle that we were sad to see empty.

Click here for Part 3