| A Taste of France - Wine & Food Pairing Dinner |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
This was our first ever, Wine & Food Pairing Dinner and it
featured French Cuisine paired of course with French wines. I
must say, based on the reviews from everyone that participated,
we are off to a grand start. Both the food and the wines were
excellent and the pairing combinations really worked well.
There were a total of four courses. We started with an
appetizer course that featured Shrimp Thermidor paired with a
White Burgundy (Chardonnay), Etiene Sauzet 2002 Puligny
Montrachet. Shrimp Thermidor is a creamy entree' which is a
texture that plays wonderfully with a buttery, malolactic style of
wine. Although Burgundy wines have more acidity and less
tropical fruit to them than Chardonnay wines from elsewhere,
there is a bit of creamy texture to them and the oak is in no way
intrusive to the dish's rich flavors. Alternative wines for this
course could have been a spicy, but full-bodied viognier wine or
a new world Chardonnay that has undergone malolactic
fermentation and has that rich buttery mouthfeel.
Our second course was a country salad with some unorthodox
ingredients and a lemon-chive dressing. I say some of the
ingredients were unorthodox because you would not necessarily
find them in French Cuisine. For example, I had added
avocados and used a bleu cheese instead of the traditional goat
cheese. For this course, we paired a cool crisp Sancerre
(Sauvignon Blanc), Vincent Delaporte 2005 Chavignol. Now I
know that some of you are wondering why I would serve a
lighter bodied wine after the full bodied Burgundy, but I really
wanted the salad to be the second course and this wine was a
real home run with the lemon-chive dressing. The Sancerre
wine was full of lemony accents and of course a grassy overtone
that played nicely with the chives in our dressing. Not to
mention plenty of acidity to the wine to tame the bleu cheese.
Our entree' course featured Steak Au Poivre with a Mushroom,
Green Peppercorn and Dijon Sauce as the star of the show, with
roasted asparagus and garlic & rosemary potatoes as the side
dishes. We paired two red wines with this course. A Bordeaux
(in this case mostly Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon),
Chateau Pipeau 20003 Saint Emilion and a Gigondas, from the
Southern Rhone Appellation (Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre),
Chateau Saint de Cosme 2003 Gigondas. Both wines were a hit
with the steak, which was a fillet-mignon cut, but the earthiness
and masculine flavors of the Bordeaux wine also sang in perfect
harmony with the vegetative asparagus and rustic fragrances of
the rosemary and garlic potatoes. The Gigondas, which in my
humble opinion was the greatest wine of the evening, was young
and tannic, with a lot of spicy overtones that took the
peppercorn sauce up a notch with the fillets.
And lastly, for the dessert course we had French Lemon Cre'me
Brulee' with candied Lemon Zest paired with the mother of all
desert wines, a Sauternes (late harvested Semillon and
Sauvignon Blanc), Chateau Suduiraut 1999 Sauternes.
Although this was the oldest wine in our tasting, it was clear to
me that this wine was technically still just a baby. The Cre'me
Brulee' had very distinct lemon accents, but our Sauternes
featured more of a butterscotch flavor and although the two
were fine together, in my opinion, this was the weakest pair of
the evening. The bleu cheese from the salad would perhaps
have been a better companion with this dessert wine.
A brochure featuring the wines, the wine critic reviews and
recipes for all of the courses featured in the dinner was given to
all our participating guests to take home with them. I believe
that our first wine pairing dinner was quite a success and
despite being a whole lot of work on my part, well worth the
trouble. Don't miss the next one! It is all about seafood!
featured French Cuisine paired of course with French wines. I
must say, based on the reviews from everyone that participated,
we are off to a grand start. Both the food and the wines were
excellent and the pairing combinations really worked well.
There were a total of four courses. We started with an
appetizer course that featured Shrimp Thermidor paired with a
White Burgundy (Chardonnay), Etiene Sauzet 2002 Puligny
Montrachet. Shrimp Thermidor is a creamy entree' which is a
texture that plays wonderfully with a buttery, malolactic style of
wine. Although Burgundy wines have more acidity and less
tropical fruit to them than Chardonnay wines from elsewhere,
there is a bit of creamy texture to them and the oak is in no way
intrusive to the dish's rich flavors. Alternative wines for this
course could have been a spicy, but full-bodied viognier wine or
a new world Chardonnay that has undergone malolactic
fermentation and has that rich buttery mouthfeel.
Our second course was a country salad with some unorthodox
ingredients and a lemon-chive dressing. I say some of the
ingredients were unorthodox because you would not necessarily
find them in French Cuisine. For example, I had added
avocados and used a bleu cheese instead of the traditional goat
cheese. For this course, we paired a cool crisp Sancerre
(Sauvignon Blanc), Vincent Delaporte 2005 Chavignol. Now I
know that some of you are wondering why I would serve a
lighter bodied wine after the full bodied Burgundy, but I really
wanted the salad to be the second course and this wine was a
real home run with the lemon-chive dressing. The Sancerre
wine was full of lemony accents and of course a grassy overtone
that played nicely with the chives in our dressing. Not to
mention plenty of acidity to the wine to tame the bleu cheese.
Our entree' course featured Steak Au Poivre with a Mushroom,
Green Peppercorn and Dijon Sauce as the star of the show, with
roasted asparagus and garlic & rosemary potatoes as the side
dishes. We paired two red wines with this course. A Bordeaux
(in this case mostly Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon),
Chateau Pipeau 20003 Saint Emilion and a Gigondas, from the
Southern Rhone Appellation (Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre),
Chateau Saint de Cosme 2003 Gigondas. Both wines were a hit
with the steak, which was a fillet-mignon cut, but the earthiness
and masculine flavors of the Bordeaux wine also sang in perfect
harmony with the vegetative asparagus and rustic fragrances of
the rosemary and garlic potatoes. The Gigondas, which in my
humble opinion was the greatest wine of the evening, was young
and tannic, with a lot of spicy overtones that took the
peppercorn sauce up a notch with the fillets.
And lastly, for the dessert course we had French Lemon Cre'me
Brulee' with candied Lemon Zest paired with the mother of all
desert wines, a Sauternes (late harvested Semillon and
Sauvignon Blanc), Chateau Suduiraut 1999 Sauternes.
Although this was the oldest wine in our tasting, it was clear to
me that this wine was technically still just a baby. The Cre'me
Brulee' had very distinct lemon accents, but our Sauternes
featured more of a butterscotch flavor and although the two
were fine together, in my opinion, this was the weakest pair of
the evening. The bleu cheese from the salad would perhaps
have been a better companion with this dessert wine.
A brochure featuring the wines, the wine critic reviews and
recipes for all of the courses featured in the dinner was given to
all our participating guests to take home with them. I believe
that our first wine pairing dinner was quite a success and
despite being a whole lot of work on my part, well worth the
trouble. Don't miss the next one! It is all about seafood!