When Wine & Food Pairing Fails.

Sometimes I question whether I am a wine & food snob. Seriously when someone suggests that we go to dinner at a chain restaurant (e.g. Olive Garden, Claim Jumper) I am not interested. I do not want to waste my money at a place that microwaves pre-prepared food and does the singing "clap-clap" if it's your birthday. My selections will always be that unique little spot that only exists in a specific city, a gourmet restaurant from an award winning chef, or my secret crush... a brewpub.

In a recent visit to Oregon I noticed that one of the wineries that I have a membership with, Cana's Feast Winery in Carlton, was having a harvest dinner. I have been a fan of their New World Style Italian wines for a couple years and I was intrigued by the thought of a wine and food pairing dinner. I reviewed the menu and thought it wasn't the most appealing lineup: mixed greens, pasta, and roasted pig but was game to take a gamble and spend the $50/person. After all Carlton, Oregon is known for quality when it comes to pig raising.

My first encounter was with Ms. S (I will omit full names) a nice woman from the bay area who checked me in and later admitted to me that she is Raider fan. Nice. I followed this up by wandering to the tasting room and when the guy behind the counter asked me if I needed help I told him that I was here for the event and I wanted to get a glass of wine as it was only 4:40 and the dinner was scheduled to being at 5pm. His response was the they were doing tastings and that he would ring me up in a minute. Ring me up? Tastings? We are not in Napa that is for sure. I could see the guy was swamped so I left him and went outside to wait around for 5pm.

I was glad to see when I went outside that Ms. J was setting up glasses and bottles to prepare for the event. She had opened and checked most the bottles by about 4:55 and I thought I would walk over and see if it wasn't too early to start in on the Rosato a slightly sweet blush wine . It was a beautiful day we had a nice table to sit at and I was ready to enjoy the Wine Life. I slowly approached Ms. J and she quickly rebuked me saying that they were not ready yet. Yikes. 2 rejections in less than 30 minutes, am I single again?

Needless to say this kind of bugged me and I sat back down and spent the next 20 minutes bitching about how wine events should be. 20 minutes. You got that right I was sitting there until well after the official start time of the event and still no wine. I was getting a bit frustrated and if Ms. J had good hearing she probably heard it. It was about 5:25 when Ms. J started walking around and handing out glasses of 1 oz pours of wine. Whoa, easy there you know in about 3 hours I will have to drive so don't give me too much. Meh.

It was also at about this time that the servers started walking around handing out appetizers. For the most part these were uninspired but I did enjoy the eggplant. It didn't pair well with the Rosato and this was a precursor to the night ahead. Marinara sauce wrapped in a thinly sliced piece of eggplant that if it had a kick of spice or if there was was a touch of salt to bring out the sweetness of the tomato I think the pairing would have been good but it tasted more like something that if it were accompanied by some fried calamari would have been a delight. Alone as it was served I would have paired the eggplant with a Sangiovese.

I went up to Ms. J and requested some more wine and again she gave me tiny samples to take back to my table. At one point she walked around to the various attendees and poured more Rosato but strange as it may seem she skipped our table altogether. I also noted that she was quite generous with some people and not so much with others. Did I say something wrong? For the most part Ms. J just stood at the wine table waiting for something to happen and at one point one of the other Cana's Feast staff asked her why she wasn't pouring wine. At another point a disgruntled guest brought another staffer to the wine table and apologetically got her a full glass of Rosato. Ms. J sacrificed everything to protect that precious juice.

It was nearly 6pm when we were greeted by winemaker Patrick Taylor. This was followed by a direction to find a seat in the outdoor dining area and the anticipation of things to come. Ms. J and Patrick walked around and poured Counoise which was akin to Pinot Noir but lighter with more emphasis on earth and spice than on fruit. It was a nice wine on it's own but when paired with mixed greens, eggplant and sweet roasted peppers simply irritated. They also poured the 2008 Barbera which was completely out of place as well.

The next course was a classic screw up in wine and food pairing and proof that you cannot pair Pinot Noir with everything. A pasta dish in a white cream sauce of grana padano cheese, corn, and chantrelle mushrooms paired with two Pinot Noir wines of various vintages (one that appeared to have turned). All they had to do to fix this baby was throw in sweet BBQ pork bits or bacon pieces in that pasta dish and you would have had a winner. Oh, and teach Ms. J how to detect wine flaws.

The main course. YES! The young roasting pig was next and boy was I ready. I had my sample of Nebbiolo & Sangiovese Grosso ready and the plate was on its way down the table and OPPS! No meat left. Only skin. I had to ask the guy who came around to collect the serving plates to bring us some meat because folks we had none. $50/person not including tip was a bargain wasn't it? In a few minutes he came back with the scraps left over and my family and I were able to taste this wonderful disaster.

Excuse me Chef Lisa, do you know what Emeril Lagasse does when he goes "BAM"? He adds seasoning. He knows that to properly prepare meat that you need to marinate it and let it sit for a while and soak up that bath. Would it have been such a waste of time to give that poor pig that gave his life for this meal a nice bath in some seasoning and perhaps I don't know maybe some WINE?

Dessert was also uninspired (roasted pears) but came with a small sample of a wine that Patrick is experimenting with call Chinato. This wine reminded me of a delicate cough syrup and was one of the few bright spots to the evening because it had some character and stood out next to chef Lisa's mundane repast.

Because Ms. J was so rude throughout the evening I was in no mood to purchase wine. When she came around at the end of the meal to ask if I wanted to purchase wine to take with me I told her no. I had anticipated that this event would be a wonderful treat and it was a major failure.

Maybe I am a wine and food snob but the people at this event that raved and applauded should stick with Olive Garden. I think the staff needs a good manager and I didn't see anyone on site doing this. To give praise to this event not only misleads the staff of Cana's Feast, it's Chef, and the Winemaker (winepairer) it ultimately hurts them and their business.

August West Pinot Noir

Can one Pinot Noir be everyone's Pinot? What if you sourced the grapes from various locales to provide the earthiness of the rough terrain of one region, paired with the cool climate long maturation of another? Left in the hands of a seasoned farmer who knows when and how to prune this so vigorous vine. Crafted with care by the finest winemaker. Perhaps you could create a Pinot Noir that would appeal to everyone?

The folks at August West are pretty damn close. They have created a Pinot Noir that excites my olfactory senses as well as my palate. The 2008 August West Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands is something special.

The nose of cherry, strawberry, flint, and delicate rustic earthy quality makes this Pinot Noir stand head and shoulders above others. Muted but ripe berry flavors awaken the palate and compliment a variety of dishes from braised pork, flank steak with a chipotle sauce, grilled salmon, or even a dried cranberry enhanced green salad. The light earthy quality of this wine will help to bring out the seasonings, the peppers, the spices in any dish. Just thinking about this makes my mouth water.

August West makes three Pinots (Santa Lucia Highlands, Graham Family Vineyard, and Rosella's Vineyard) the Santa Lucia is the least expensive at around $30. I have a bottle of the Grahams Family Vineyard ($45) waiting for me when I recover from this winter cold. I know it will be worth the wait.

Check out the Wine Lab Newport for August West wines.

Decant this and it will open up like a blooming flower

I was fortunate enough to share a bottle of 2006 Viader "Dare" Cabernet Franc this evening. When I saw it on the wine list I had to have it. I immediately thought of how I could convince the table of mostly white wine drinkers that we should get this bottle. I was quickly encouraged by an associate who wanted to drink red to order it. To hell with the rest I knew what I was doing.

When the waiter brought the bottle to me and poured a sample I was so enamored by the nose of cigar box, dark berry and cherry, tobacco and pimento that I almost didn't want to taste it for fear the palate might spoil the beauty of the bouquet. Fear not I said to myself I knew this wine would be amazing and right out the bottle it was a delight. Blueberry and spice, a bit of smoke and soft round tannic structure. Wow.

I asked the server to decant it as I said those legendary words "Decant this and it will open up like a blooming flower". Remember this line. Chant this line. Follow this instruction and that Cabernet Franc will blow your mind.

WINE LIFE!

BUY THIS WINE

When I think of a great Riesling I usually think of Germany. It think of the region of Mosel. I think of a delicate balance of sweet and acid. Well chilled so that each taste as the wine metamorphoses its way to room temperature provides different flavors. A great wine, a great Riesling, should hit you with a bit of honey, sweet apple and meyer lemon. Though somewhat aromatic it should not attack your nostrils with flowers if but a wiff of petrol. Expressing peach, pear, orange in the middle and when the glass having warmed reaches room temp produces a white pepper and orange zest. Yes these are the characteristics of a great wine.

I have tasted a number Rieslings, I have learned what I like, and I like Zach Bergweiler-Prum Erben 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese. That was a mouthful but oh how your mouth will thank you when you drink this amazing wine. Best of all I found this at Costco for $18!

I would pair this wine with spicy dishes or those that emphasize leafy green veggies. I have even heard talk of pairing such a wine with Taco Bell (but you didn't hear that here).

Viognier - The Perfect White Wine?

In Oz Clark's Grapes and Wines he says that Viognier (VEE-ON-YAY) filled the consumer demand for a white wine with "weight and softness of an oaky Chardonnay without the oak". For me Viognier is currently my favorite white because it combines the crispness of a Sauvginon Blanc with the fruity profile of a Riesling and spares us from the high acid levels of either. For me oak doesn't enter in to the discussion and to bring it up is a bit misleading. The other thing that I really enjoy about Viognier is that it pairs well with so many of the foods I enjoy such as sushi, salads, fish, chicken and my current perfect pairing with Cambodian Spring Rolls.

Viognier is a very aromatic wine with lots of floweriness in the nose and winemakers often blend it in with their red wines for this reason. A couple great examples are Storybook Mountain's Napa Estate, Eastern Exposures Zinfandel 2006 and Spring Mountain Winery's 2007 Syrah Co-Ferment where they crush and ferment the Syrah and Viognier grapes together instead of blending them after fermentation as is done with most wine blends. But I stray...

The first Viognier that caught my eye (palate) was Bridlewood's Reserve Viogner which for me is a nice light introduction to the grape. It's a bit on the drier side but still very aromatic and lots of fruit character. Priced at around $13 (bevmo.com) it was included in their 5 cents promotion earlier in the year so I purchased 2 bottles for less that 15 bucks after tax. That's right at the current high volume sales price of $6.99/bottle.


The second one that really caught my attention is the Copain Viognier "Tous Ensemble" Mendocino County. This is my current favorite as it is the perfect balance of fruit and crispness to make a bright yet subtle white wine with a lot of complexity. This may be the perfect white as it complements the crisp high acid foods (lemon chicken, cranberry vinaigrette salad) and contrasts well with rich creamy dishes (butternut squash risotto, grilled sea bass, deep fried egg roll). What is great about pairing a bright wine like this with rich dishes is that it gives your palate a refreshment between bites so future tastes will be just like the first one, special. With all pairings you will find this wine will bring out the sweetness in foods you didn't expect and the foods will bring out the apricot and citrus notes from this wonderful wine. At $20 I think this a great buy for a truely great wine.

Another fine Viognier is 2008 Darioush Viognier Signature a less subtle crisper white which has high unripe fruit character for a wine in this category. It paired well with the Cambodian Spring Rolls bringing out the crisp minty character of the roll and accentuating the sweetness of the lettuce. I think this is a great wine but it's price point ($40) may take it out of many peoples recession budget.

Cheers to all you Rhone Rangers!