Well, yes its hard to really go wrong. Well-cooked food and decent wine always have a place together. We talk a lot about the combinations of the two, and there's many different ways they can play off of each other. Good combinations sometimes make the wine sing, sometimes make the food sing, and sometimes can amplify the flavors of both at the same time. I don't want to take a stand as to which is better, they're all good in their own way.
But, sometimes you happen on a combination that really, really works in its own individual way.
Food - Pan-seared Opah, lightly salt and peppered over mashed sweet potatoes (Yes. I mean sweet potatoes, with the golden colored flesh, considerably sweeter than normal potatoes, but very different from the orange flesh colored yams) with chopped garlic, smoked paprika, olive oil, and touch of butter to finish.
Wine - Brewer-Clifton Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay
This combination was one of the great ones. The dish amplified and celebrated all the subtleties of this wine. Almost like a gentlemen ballroom dancer twirling around and showing off his beautiful dance partner. The wine dominated the show, but afterward left you fresh and prepared for the next bite. Each bite of food was like tasting this dish for the first time.
Getting wine and food to dance together so well is tough. Usually you end of with a good combination, everybody knows the steps, but the guy is slightly plodding or the women isn't picking up on all the cues. But, every now and then you end up with a partnership that not just works well together, but seems to really understand each other.
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