A lunch and two dinners with wine

[Florida Jim]

Dinner - Pasta with a sauce of salmon and goat cheese:

2004 Dom. Pepière, Muscadet Clos des Briords:

This is, as always, a beautiful wine; cream soda and cracked pepper nose with minerals underlying and fresh air tones; clean, crisp fruit with flavors of unripe pineapple and more black pepper with great cut and balance; long, clean finish. Even alone, a beautiful drink and more approachable than I would have expected. 12% alcohol, imported by Louis/Dressner and about $13 on release; way under priced.

I chose this because of some suggestions from the board and because I thought that the goat cheese would moderate the oily texture and potent flavors of the salmon such that a light white wine with good cut might match well. And I was pretty close. But despite the fact that the dish and the wine tasted very good together, there was no symbiotic effect – neither enhanced the other – even though they were nice together. I’m guessing that a white with a little more weight and texture (white Rhone, gruner veltliner, etc.) might have been a better match but those were not available to me at the time. When I get back to NC and my cellar, I’ll definitely try that combo.

Lunch - Blue corn chips with melted cheddar cheese served with humus and avocado:

2006 Dry Stack Cellars, Sauvignon Blanc Rosemary’s Block:

For those of you who read my notes you know I love this wine – I still do; grapefruit and flint on the nose; lots of tropical fruit mixed with grapefruit and mineral in the mouth and no grassy or cat pees odors or flavors, good body and balance; a long, flavor-filled finish. My kind of sauvignon and I love it ice cold. 14.1% alcohol and about $22; I’d buy it again.

I chose it because I thought the grapefruit flavors and the very cold temperature would be refreshing to the palate and it worked out that way. It was best with the chips, cheese and humus and adequate when the avocado was added to the mix – I’m not sure why the difference but I think it has to do with the earthiness of the humus and the mineral element in the wine. In any event, a good match and one I will keep in mind as Diane and I eat humus often.

Dinner – Fresh caught grouper, grilled; steamed green beans and yellow zucchini; oven baked fries with rosemary:

Three wines were served; the Dry Stack, Sauvignon noted above and the 2006 Kim Crawford, Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough and the 2006 Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay.

The Kim Crawford wines were chosen by our host and I brought along about 2/3 of a bottle of the Dry Stack that Diane and I had for lunch without knowing what was to be served, so there was no forethought on my part as to the pairings.

The Dry Stack was beyond words good as the power of the wine and the richness of the fish created a umami paradise; with each bite and sip it was as though the wine was a sauce made for the dish. One of the best food/wine matches I have ever experienced. An ‘oh, my!’ pairing.

The Kim Crawford, Chardonnay was unimpressive with plastic smells and flavors and little to identify it as chardonnay. I did not even try it with the meal because I didn’t like it at all. The Kim Crawford, Sauvignon (about $16 full retail) was lovely; not as big and powerful as the Dry Stack and not near the match for the fish but a charming wine without cat pee or grassy scents and flavors with nice ripe fruit. Good with the meal but not great.

Best, Jim