Dinner - Salmon (American Fare)

Wine and Dinner Pairing No. I

Last night, a few of my friends and I got together and decided to do our first dinner pairing. We agreed about a week ago that we wanted to have salmon, which gave us plenty of time to find our pairings of choice, with the help of the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg. 

Our private chef for the evening was our friend Brent, who was kind enough to make dinner for everyone. He prepared baked salmon with a lemon glaze, sauteed asparagus, and spicy roasted potatoes. Lemon was a prominent flavor in the dish, so we knew that we wanted to find a wine that had lemon-forward notes. 

Lemon Salmon Dish with our Selected Wines

Wines and Pairings

Schlink Haus Riesling Auslese 2018

• Variety: 100% Riesling

• Vintage: 2018

• Style: Auslese (Late Harvest - Sweet)

• Country: Germany

• Region: Nahe

• Notes (Sans Pairing): Rich Plum, White Peach, Honeycrisp Apple

  

  Schlink Haus Riesling Auslese 2018

Pairing Details

We bought this wine to specifically prepare with our spicy, roasted potatoes. We really enjoyed sweeter zinfandel with spicy Italian Soprasetta a few weeks ago, so we wanted to try another spicy/sweet combination. I am personally not a huge fan of sweeter drinks, but this Riesling made me reevaluate that. Without pairing it, I got strong notes of plum, honey, and white peach. 

Once we paired it with the potatoes, the spiciness from the cayenne pepper and chili pepper on the potatoes brought out an extremely rich, ripe peach flavor that we couldn't detect without the pairing. The Riesling transformed from being relatively modest in its notes, other than the sweetness, of course, to bursting with ripe, farmers-market fresh peaches. This was an old-world delight. I thoroughly enjoyed this pairing and can't wait to try more Auslese Riesling with spicy foods. Thai food next?

Cupcake Pinot Grigio

• Variety: 100% Pinot Grigio

• Vintage: 2019
  

• Style: Dry Table Wine

• Country: Italian Grapes, Fermented in California

• Region: Veneto, Northeast Italy

• Notes (Sans Pairing): Crisp Acidity, Pear, Melon

Cupcake Pinot Grigio

Pairing Details

We decided to go with this wine because it advertised that it had strong lemon and citrus notes, which we thought would go perfectly with our lemon salmon. Upon tasting this wine without food, we began to grow concerned. We couldn't find the notes of lemon that we were so excited about. I was getting a moderately acidic, crisp body with notes of melon and pear. There were no overpowering flavors uncovered in this wine, but it was definitely enjoyable. 

Once we brought out the salmon, the lemon and citrus notes in this wine started to shine. The lemon glaze on the salmon was perfectly hedged by the crispness and acid structure of this wine. This was a delicious pairing because it was able to bring out the citrus notes in the wine and reaffirmed the citrus notes in the meal. This is definitely a food wine and should be enjoyed with your favorite citrusy chicken or seafood dish. Overall, I would pair these two again and would recommend it to anyone craving a light and refreshing meal. 

Big Smooth Old Vine Zinfandel

• Variety: 87% Zinfandel, 9% Petite Sirah, 3% Mourvedre, 1% Merlot

• Vintage: 2017
  

• Style: Dry Table Wine

• Country: United States

• Region: Lodi, California

• Notes (Sans Pairing): Cherry, Black Cherry, Vanilla

Big Smooth Old Vine Zinfandel

Pairing Details

I tried this wine on its own before we started pairing it with anything and was blown away from the start. This wine had a delicate, silky texture while being an absolute flavor bomb. This California Zinfandel carried strong notes of cherry, vanilla, and sweet black cherries. The label on this bottle is made of smooth, velvety material, clearly as a preface to the wine being held within the bottle. This zinfandel carried a beautiful sweetness to it, not from crazy amounts of residual sugar, but from the flavor bursting from the grapes of this vineyard. The wine came in at a high 15.5% abv, which is about the middle range of California Zinfandels, so there is a possibility there is a little bit of residual sugar still hanging on. 

We paired this wine with the asparagus and immediately regretted it. This wine was too much of a flavor bomb to be enjoyed with the delicately sauteed asparagus. The cherry and vanilla notes from this wine absolutely dominated the asparagus and left us with very little of the asparagus. Although this was fine with me, especially since I prefer flavor-bomb zins over asparagus, it lacked the synergistic effects that the other two pairings had. Next time I eat asparagus, I would like to try it paired with a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, or something lighter in body that could potentially benefit from synergy with the asparagus. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first wine and dinner pairing. The food was great, the wine was great, and spending time with my friends was great. I can't wait for my next dinner where I can experiment with three new wines and three new courses. It is a very civilized activity and I know I will enjoy pairing wines for the rest of my life.