Heavenly Matches

Proteins and wine seem to be an easier match than vegetables. In fact, when most people make pairing suggestions, the sides almost always play second fiddle to the meat or the sauce in which the meat is being cooked.

But what about those occasions when there is no meat? Last night, I was happily stunned by one of the most harmonious food and wine pairings I've ever experienced: a beet and haricots verts salad with a young Kermit Lynch Cotes du Rhone. The salad was dressed in a Banyuls vinaigrette and some endive was tossed in a with a bit of watercress.

The juicy but earthy young Rhone red blended so smoothly with the salad that it seemed like an extended ingredient. I'm always delighted when wines and food dance so perfectly together. 

And where did I have this meal? At the Angele bar, in Napa. One of my favorite downtown bistros, it certainly didn't disappoint tonight. 

Cheers! 

Update on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 11:08AM by Brooke

Second great match of the week/end....

Ubriaco cheese - which means “drunken” in Italian - and Dolcetto. This mild, fruity-nutty young cheese is soaked in wine and crushed grape skins and allowed to age from six months to almost a year. Ubriaco favors a young red with mild acidity and soft tannins, like Dolcetto from Piedmont, especially Alba (Dogliani is another famous Piedmont region for Dolcetto, but the wines are often bigger, riper and more intense than those from Alba). My favorite young Dolcettos balance bright berry fruit and floral aromas with a savory earth and herb quality. These aren’t juicy fruit wines, and they can be wonderfully generous in the mouth.  A few great producers are Vietti, Pio Cesare, and Bruno Giacosa.