Saturday Night – Quest for the perfect pairing – Part 2

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For the main course, Mick did a new Trout recipe with a lemon butter sauce. The pairing for this dish, Mick picked a 2005 Pernand-Vergelesses Bourgogne.

"Trout cooked to perfection!"

This wine, like the first wine, had a mild nose that you had to work at a bit to find; vanilla and coconut were the two aromas that we could detect. Lime and grapefruit flavours dominated this wine’s flavour. The wine was a touch more oaky than I’d expect from a white Burgundy but had good structure to it. The wine was easy drinking but lacked a certain ‘wow’ factor that would make it stand out. It was a decent pairing with the trout.

"Solid but missing that 'wow' factor..."

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 87, Mark – 86, Kathy – 85, Amy – 86, Overall – 86.

The 2005 that was reviewed is no longer listed at the LCBO but they did have a listing for the 2006 vintage -

MAISON CHAMPY PERNAND-VERGELESSES 2006

VINTAGES 8151
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 29.95
Wine, White Wine
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: Champy Pere & Cie
Release Date: Feb 14, 2009

Tasting Note - Founded in 1720, Maison Champy is the oldest wine house in Burgundy; its cellars date to the 15th century. A negociant that purchases grapes through long-term contracts as well as a landowner, Champy has evolved in the past several years to become a consistently high-quality producer ... [Among] first-rate whites [is] the crisply citrus Champy Pernand Vergelesses 2006 ... (Louis Marmon, www.gazette.net, April 16, 2008)

The trout was cooked to perfection, as it was flakey and moist and just melted in your mouth. My one criticism of the dish was the lemon in the sauce was much too heavy and would suggest that Mick cuts it to a third of the amount for the next time he does this.

Thanks for Mick and Amy for the wonderful evening.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Quest for the perfect pairing – Part 1

Mick and Amy were hosting this week’s Saturday night dinner. Mick went with an old favorite - scallops on tortillas with guacamole and corn relish as the starter and a new recipe - trout in a lemon butter sauce as the main course.

"Too Good for Words!"

The scallops on tortillas with guacamole and corn relish are a pairing nightmare as Mick and I have tried numerous different white wines and yet still have found the perfect pairing to go with this dish. The best match so fair has been an off-dry Prosecco but it leaned more towards a good pairing rather than a great pairing.

Mick called me about this pairing this dish and we kicked around some ideas for a wine pairing and settle on a 2005 Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris from Alsace that I had in wine cooler.

"Perfect Pairing?"

Opening the Pinot Gris you were greeted by a mild nose of lychee, pear and white lilac. Tasting the wine you got a grapefruit and pear flavour running throughout. It sort of reminded me of a Gewürztraminer as it was mildly cloying and bitter at times. The wine had a nice rounded mouth feel but seemed a touch under acidic at times. It was an easy drinking wine that we had no problem killing the bottle and was better on its own than with the food. It was an alright pairing with the food but at times the wine seemed a little awkward or lost against certain flavours of the food.
　
Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 85, Mark – 87, Kathy – 85, Amy – 86, Overall – 85.75.
　
There was no listing on the LCBO’s website for a Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris. They had a listing for 10 other Pierre Sparr Alsace white wines that ranged from $14 to $32 so I’d imagine that the price point would be in that range. If I had to guess a price, I’d say this was probably a $18-20 bottle.
　
So it looks like our quest for a great pairing for this dish continues; on the upside that just means Mick will have to keep making this dish until we get it right!
　
Click here for Part 2

Saturday Night – Radishes, Grapefruit, and Artichoke Hearts… Oh my! – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

For the main course Mick did Lamb with roasted potatoes. He pick a 2006 Amity Vineyards "Willamette Valley" Pinot Noir to pair with the lamb.

"Lamb with roasted potatoes"

The nose on the Pinot Noir was an easy to find aromas of smoke, cedar and strawberry. Tasting the wine you get a pleasant mix of raspberry and chocolate in a very straight forward Pinot Noir as there wasn’t much complexity to it. While it wasn’t the most exciting Pinot, it was a truly excellent pairing with the lamb.

"Simple but good"

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 87, Mark - 88, Kathy – 86, Amy - 87, Overall – 87.

"Fruity"

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

AMITY VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR

LCBO 124594
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 23.95
Wine, Red Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: Oregon, United States
By: Amity Vineyards

Tasting Note - Pale ruby/garnet; light cranberry, stawberry aromas and flavour with a hint of cinamon and an earthy note in the finish; dry and light-medium to bodied with good acidity, soft tannins, moderate length.

Serving Suggestion - Grilled salmon or tuna; game birds; mushroom dishes.

For dessert Mick did up fresh sliced strawberries and bananas with a chocolate fondue.

It was an enjoyable evening and I’d like to thank Mick for all his hard work in putting together the dishes and menu for the evening.

Cheers!

Mark

Saturday Night – Radishes, Grapefruit, and Artichoke Hearts… Oh my! – Part 1

We were at Mick and Amy’s house for dinner this past Saturday and Mick dove into his trove of recipes books and found something new. He found a new scallop recipe that had radishes, grapefruit juice, artichoke hearts and butter. We started though with a Greek salad first and it was paired with a Kim Crawford 2009 Sauvignon Blanc.

"Greek Salad"

The nose was a pleasant mix of grapefruit, lime and some tropical fruit. Tasting the wine there was a crisp flavour of white grapefruit running the length of it. The structure of the Kim Crawford was nice but the acidity seemed lacking causing the wine to seem ‘flabby’ at times. I was a bit disappointed with the bottle as over the years the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc has been excellent and I tend to use those wines as a personal benchmark on what a good Sauvignon Blanc should be and this one wasn’t at that level.

"Scallops + the kitchen sink :)"

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 88, Mark - 88, Kathy – 87, Amy - 87, Overall – 87.5.

"Not as good as earlier years"

Here is the LCBO information on this wine –

KIM CRAWFORD SAUVIGNON BLANC (V)

VINTAGES 35386
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 18.95
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: New Zealand, New Zealand
By: Constellation Wines Nz
Release Date: May 15, 2010

Description - Vintage after vintage, the world-renowned Kim Crawford displays his winemaking prowess with Sauvignon Blanc. The 2007 and 2008 vintages each received 91 points from Wine Spectator! This lively wine exhibits aromas such as gooseberry, passion fruit, grass, nettle, mineral, and citrus. Tantalizing with steamed mussels or warm chicken salad.

We continued drinking the Kim Crawford with Mick’s new scallop recipe. The Kim Crawford was a decent pairing with both the Greek salad and the scallop recipe. The new scallop recipe was a bit of miss however, too many odd flavour competing hurt this dish. I think the other reason we weren’t too keen on it was, Mick has done so many better scallop recipes that were truly excellent that he has set the bar a tad too high!

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Saturday Night – Mixed Grill

Mick and Amy came over this past Saturday night for dinner. It was my turn to cook and I’d been craving Caesar salad for awhile so it was the first course. I paired it with a Louis Jadot Bourgogne which we have had a number of times(see Wine List for reviews). This wine for its $20 price point should be a staple in anyone’s wine cellar, is it always consistently good year after year and pairs well with a number of foods. It is a great pairing with Caesar salad.

"Croutons with a side salad"

For the main course I did a mixed grill and it had been long week so I want something special to pair with this food. I picked a 2005 Tignanello as my pairing for the night. I tried this wine before at a Wine Club bonus tasting (http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2009/03/wine-club-bonus-tasting.html) and picked up this bottle right after that tasting as I wanted to share it with my wife and Mick and Amy as I really enjoyed it at the time.

"Mixed Grill"

The Tignanello had a huge nose of dark berries, tar and cocoa. It was a touch tannic and hot which surprise me a bit but was also a nice big wine. The mixed grill threw the wine for a loop; at times as is was awesome and not so good at other times. I’ll be honest here and say that I missed with this pairing and think this would have been better with rare roast beef or rare beef tenderloin vs. all the different things that were on the plate with the mixed grill.

"Worth a $100 per bottle?"

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mick - 90, Mark - 89, Kathy – 87, Amy - 87, Overall – 88.25.

(See link above to Bonus Tasting for LCBO information on the wine.)

My miss at the pairing here was probably the main reason the ladies were a touch tight on their ratings as this wine did have a lot going for it. On the other hand, with its $100 price tag maybe they were looking for a little more from this wine to justify this price.

Cheers!

Mark