Perfect Pairings

You're hosting your friends who think they know their wine. You're serving food and wine together and all these people think they know what they are doing. They've gotten addicted to wines from one region and that is what they drink. In my experience, the most common is the Americans who drink California Cabernet when they want red and California Chardonnay when they want white. That's fine, but it's entirely possible that the wines they are drinking do nothing for the food they are eating and conversely.

This is your chance to show them you care. This is your chance to give them an otherworldly experience. And, because you know they are all gluttons, you are going to serve them one of those multi-course prix fixe dinners except in this case, because you are the greatest, most gracious host of all, the price is gratis.

For your first course, to welcome your guests, you're going to start with a celebratory combination. Many people don't get caviar. To a large extent, I am one of them. But, you are pairing it with fine Champagne. Place a tiny bit of caviar on your tongue and give it one gentle bite, at least to the extent that you can bite into caviar. Now, take a sip of your vintage Champagne. Do you feel the bubbles in the Champagne exploding? That's the oily salt in the caviar doing that. Did you notice how the caviar turned into a gooey, creamy, luxurious pate? Now, when you serve this to me, I will get caviar.

For your second course, you are staying with seafood, but moving to a pair of oysters. No, you're not steaming them or making them Rockefeller or some other way. These are fresh oysters, served raw and chilled. Among people who don't like oysters, particularly raw oysters, what they tend to not like is eating the ocean. When you're at the beach, you likely don't yearn to drink salt water, so why should you like oysters. But, tonight, with your oysters, you're serving Melon de Bourgogne, often known as Muscadet. This is where the strange combination of salt with salt works. Strangely, the salty minerality in the ultra-dry Muscadet makes the oysters go down like a slightly melted ice cream. Rather than tasting like the beach, they taste exactly like what you would want to eat at the beach.

We need some vegetables with our meal. And, you've outdone yourself preparing asparagus hollandaise for your guests. It's a lovely dish, but the bitterness of asparagus is a known wine killer. But, you've accommodated the hollandaise sauce to make the dish more wine friendly by adding just a bit of extra lemon juice to the hollandaise. And, then you went and paired it with Viognier from Condrieu. Why Condrieu? The wines there are more viscous than the typical Viognier and also a bit more aromatic. Notice how the bit of additional lemon in the hollandaise captures the essence of the Condrieu whose viscosity tames the asparagus. And, whatever you do, keep the pyrazines and thioesters in the asparagus calm by very slightly undercooking it.

We need a fish course. You've selected dover sole. And, you've elected to poach it and drizzle warm melted butter over it on the plate. Your first inclination was a buttery Chardonnay, but for me, that's just too much butter for this fish. Instead, you've outdone yourself, by choosing a 100% Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre. The fresh minerality combined with the zesty fruit makes the delicate fish come alive.

Duck is a wonderful food to go with wine. And, it's rich enough to carry some fairly big red wines. But, you've chosen not to serve just any duck; you've gone for orange duck, more famously known as duck à l'orange. With that saucy, sweet flavor, you can no longer serve red wine. In fact, you need something to handle the pungent sourness while being just a bit sweeter than the food. You've chosen a well-aged Riesling Spatlese from the Rheingau. Remember when you looked at that Chinese menu and you salivated for sweet and sour, well you've just created a better, more exciting version of sweet and sour.

Your eight-course meal is nothing without a little beef. For dish number six, you've decided to fix that quite simply. You've gotten yourself a thick, juicy, meaty stick and coated it with black pepper to sear it to perfection. Strangely, you are going to want a peppery wine to go with this, but not just any pepper. The white pepper often found in wines of the southern Rhone will be too much of a contrast. Instead, go for the black pepper of a Cabernet Sauvignon heavy, Bordeaux style blend. But, be careful to not serve too big a wine (if you've gone Napa, choose a cooler vintage) as the pepper in the wine will likely be overwhelmed. Notice that the tannins in the wine are cutting through the marbling in the steak while the pepper on the steak evokes the natural fruitiness of the grapes.

And, now it's time for the first of our two dessert courses. While some might prefer it as an appetizer, you've elected pate de foie gras as your initial dessert. It's rich, buttery, and creamy, while at the same time meaty. This pairing is simple, yet elegant. We're having Sauternes, the wonderful dessert wine of botrytized Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. The viscosity of the wine works amazingly well with the richness of the pate while the sweetness makes for a combination of sweet and savory. Imagine a stack of pancakes garnished with thick cut bacon and freshly drawn Vermont maple syrup. And, then add the long finish of a fine Sauternes.

Our meal is ending simply. You've truned the lights down to calm the room. The violin plays in the background. The preparation of the eighth and final course could not have been easier. It's just a slice of cheese, but not just any cheese. Stilton is a stinky, veiny, gooey choose from England. It's one of the few positive things that my palate has found in English food. We're pairing it with vintage Port. Magically, the Port has destinkified (yes, I had to make up a word) the cheese and made it pleasing and elegant while the cheese has taken just enough of the sweetness out of the Port. It's an ending that lingers and leaves your guests wanting no more.