Wine pairing in France, esp Paris

[John Talbott]

Elsewhere, the issue of wine pairing has arisen, for instance from tupac:

yesterday the menu with wine pairing (absolutely essential here, in my opinion) was 290E/person

And Julot replied:

some places do a great work with wine pairing: when that happens, the dish and the wine both take a whole new dimension from their encounter. That was the case at l'Astrance, where several dishes were transfigured by the wine.

To be fair, it only rarely happens, and mostly with Senderens and Senderens' disciples (the sommelier at l'Astrance is former Lucas Carton, and of course Barbot is a Passard guy who is -was- a Senderens guy -- though wine/course pairing at l'Arpège starts with both being ridiculously expensive). It is all the more admirable at l'Astrance since dishes change very often and, unlike Senderens, the chef does not design the dishes seeking the wine pairing but lets it up to the sommelier to find out the good wine once he came up with a new dish.

Actually, we could start a topic: apart from l'Astrance and Senderens, what are the places that offers really exceptional wine pairing? I'm guessing there's gonna be mention of Il Vino, though from what I read, they seem to have a very rustic approach to pairing, and mostly put wines first, rather than looking for the magical pairing. Some places have great wine, some great food, some both -- but the pairing?

Tupac again:

Honestly, for me this was just a case of dumb luck. I hadn't heard anything good or bad about the wine program at L'Astrance; and at first we were ambivalent about doing the full pairing, considering the previous night's excesses. But I think Julien had it right when he said that both the dish and the wine take on a whole new dimension together. There were many wines I did not like on their own. And likewise many such dishes. But I'm not sure I've had a wine pairing quite so good before. I was very impressed.

Then Bu:

How about another famous wine-pairing at Paris ... Le Meurice? Is it essential as well? I agree that Senderens is the master of wine pairing, but L'Arpege does not seem so despite the fact that Passard is another Senderens disciple. If it does, I think it will be too scary pricewise

And finally Julot again:

For the wine-pairing issue... we should really start that topic. I thought John would have done it by ,now ;-)

So here it is on popular demand.

[HOLLY_L]

I had the wine pairings at Ledoyen. They seemed nice and complementary to the dishes, although I have little expertise on wine. I would not say that the wine was transformative to the experience, however, in the way described for L'Astrance, for example. But I recall two noteworthy aspects of the pairing at Ledoyen - very generous pours, including refilling if the wine was finished before the course, and a wine for each cheese selected.

[pierre45]

The best place for wine pairing today in paris is EL VINO in the 7th.

It received 1 star recently .I reviewed it when it opened so you may read about it.THe pairing is as good as Senderens and better than L'astrance.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

seriously?

[robyn]

Perhaps it would also be useful to mention the wine pairings that aren't so good (or worse). Robyn

[pierre45]

Every thing in life is subjective,specially when it comes to food and wine.

I have enjoyed wine pairings at Senderens ,l'astrance and Il vino.

The cuisine is definitely better at Senderens and L'astrance, and taken individually the wines were also better,however what i found special at Il vino was the pairing . The wines truly enhanced The food,Each one in its own category ,whether food or wine was not exceptional, but a focus on wine and dishes that complement, was unique and rewarding.

[MichaelCE]

We did the wine pairings at Le Meurice two weeks ago. They were a good way to do it, but our incentive was mostly cost and convenience. There were no great revelations.

At our two dinners at Astrance the sommelier had the time and courtesy not to tell us the wine but to let us guess the last wine before he poured the next one. He would then critique our guesses. This was very entertaining and somewhat instructive in itself, but wasn't an enhancement to the cuisine.