Saturday Night – Request night – Part 1

Mick and Amy were back from vacation last week so we got together for our usual Saturday night dinner. Amy had been asking for awhile for honey Gorgonzola crostinis and lemon cream pasta with Prosciutto so I based the menu on those two items.

"Honey goodness!"

For the first course, I was concerned that the honey Gorgonzola crostinis wouldn’t be enough food. I did some searching online for sweet and spicy recipes but didn’t find one that I like. I next went over my own recipes and came across the spicy honey ginger shrimp and mixed vegetables recipe. I thought this was an interesting one as I liked how both recipes had honey as an ingredient and felt this common element would tie the two dishes together nicely. The issue I’ve had in the past is that Amy found the spicy honey ginger shrimp too spicy. This time I decided to just marinade the shrimp in olive oil vs. the honey ginger sauce and made the honey ginger sauce as a side dipping sauce.

"Serve chilled"

With honey being a large element of both dishes, I knew the wine had to be a sweeter wine. After looking over what I had on the rack, I picked a 2007 Wegeler Spätlese Riesling to pair with the food.

Nosing the wine you get aromas of lime, wet stone, pear, rose and pineapple. Tasting the wine it was an interesting mouth feel as the wine had a oiliness to it but also had lots of frizzante. The acidity seem a touch low and the sweetness a touch high as the wine was almost cloying at times due to the sweetness. The main flavours were ripe nectarines, pineapple, and green apple. Most Rieslings I’ve had, I find as the wine warms up the wine gets better, this one it was better colder as the more it warmed up the sweeter it seemed. It was a good pairing for the food. The crostinis and the shrimp with the sauce on the side were a big hit as there were clean plates all around.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 87, Mark - 86, Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 86.75

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

Wegeler Riesling Spätlese 2007

Vintages 87452
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 27.60
Wine, White Wine,
11.0% Alcohol/Vol.Sugar Content : MS
Made in: Moselle/Saar/Ruwer, Germany
By: Geheimrat J. Wegeler Erben
Release Date: Dec 6, 2008

Tasting Note - 2007 was another exceptional vintage for Germany. The aromas suggest slate, lime blossom and fruit, plus a hint of peach. The ripeness is impressive and the balancing acidity is even better. The sweetness and acidity play with and against each other, leading to a long, balanced finish. This wine is capable of greatness, so age it 5-10 years. (VINTAGES panel, Feb. 2008)

I like the wine but would go with the 2007 Selbach Oster Spãtlese Riesling instead as it is only a little more money but I enjoyed it a lot more. Here is the link for the review and LCBO information - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2009/06/saturday-night-kim-cooks-up-storm-part_30.html

Click here for part 2