Pairing It Up

So I'm always looking for a good excuse to experiment with pairing food and wine.  Usually we get to choose the wine based on the food.  Sometimes I like to change it up a bit though and pair the food to the wine.  It's like designing a room based off of an accent piece.  I think that sometimes it helps to have something to anchor all the creativity.

For this Ladies' Night, I decided on a few varietals and worked from there.

I wanted to start off with a Pinot Gris, (instead of a typical Sauvignon Blanc, my least favorite type of wine).  I decided to pair it with little bite-sized hors d'oeuvres of strawberry, avocado, goat cheese and toasted pecans, all skewered together with a little toothpick.

I was a bit nervous about it as I'd gotten a few strange looks when I'd described the idea to folks, but I think it came out beautifully.  I have to admit that I came up with the idea and owe the entirety of the execution to Alisa, Maria and Liz.  The fruitiness of the Acrobat Pinot Gris went really well with the little bit sized treats.  The avocado and goat cheese balanced the mild citrus character of the wine really nicely.  This was probably my favorite pairing of the night.

After the light start, I decided to move one step heavier to a Viognier.  I served it with shrimp and mango skewers, basted with a saffron, cilantro and agave syrup mixture.  The peach tones of the Viognier went well with the summery skewers and it was smooth enough to support the freshness of the dish.

After the two whites, we decided to break into the reds.  I had a bottle of Sobon Zinfandel that I paired with chicken skewers marinated in an ancho, cocoa and raspberry paste.  The flavors worked really well together, but I definitely let them cook a bit too long.  If I were to do it again, I'd probably marinate them overnight and then cook them briefly on high heat.  A grill would be ideal, but alas, I've decided to adhere to my home-owners' association rules and not put one on my porch.  Perhaps my grill pan would do the job nicely though...

Lastly, I served little mushrooms stuffed with rendered bacon and cambozola.  This was served with a La Posta Malbec.  It was definitely a bit rich.  I think that in retrospect, it would have been better paired with a Merlot, and with something to cut the richness a bit.  Maybe portobellos with a small smear of cambozola and a small sprinkle of bacon.  I didn't manage to snap any photos of the mushrooms.

Ironically, I had made a salad with field greens, nasturtium, romano cheese, sunflower seeds and blueberries, to be served with a Pinot Noir, but I don't think we ever managed to get around to eating the salad.  I'm pretty sure we drank the Pinot Noir though...

Needless to say, it was a successful little Ladies' Night.  We wrapped it up with some Pecan Pie and ice cream that Liz brought along, and then headed out on the town to enjoy some of the late-night sunshine.

Next time I might need to work on minimizing my pours until the end of the night...