Adventures in Wine Pairing Part I: Haute Cuisine by Chef Dan
Chez Dan, Palo Alto, California
Tasted Friday, April 30, 2010 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,705 views
Introduction
Sandy, Chef Dan, Kate, Scott and Sonia
Our buddy Dan Snyder is a remarkable chef, and I'm always amazed at the high end techniques and preparations he's able to pull off in his very modest sized kitchen. For this gourmet meal/wine pairing extravaganza the techniques and preparation included sous vide cooking for the salmon and an exquisite fava bean risotto. He also somehow managed to peel a slew of cherry tomatoes, not an easy task, for a Momofuku-inspired "Asian caprese." A week or two before the dinner, Dan came up with our six course menu (we added a dessert course), and thoughtfully selected wines to pair with each of the courses. Our group couldn't resist supplementing his pairings with a few of our own, however. As a result, we ended up with a bit too much wine for six people--we need to work on that--but some really lovely and memorable pairings, nonetheless.
Dan happens to be a fan of Chablis and white Rhones, as well as Champagne and white and red Burgundy, so those predilections undoubtedly helped shape his food selection. That is as it should be: when pairing wine and food, it makes sense to pick wines that you like and match the food to them. I'll describe each of the pairings and how well they worked below. In arriving at pairings, Dan was clearly keeping in mind all the food-relevant attributes of the wines, especially texture, weight, flavors and acidity levels. As a result, I think his pairings, informed in part by his intimate knowledge of the raw materials and intended preparation, worked better than most of our additions.
Besides being a great cook and conversationalist, Dan also gardens--both at his home and at a plot in the communal Palo Alto garden--and loves to pair food, especially with ingredients that he grows himself, and wine. No wonder Dan always has a steady supply of attractive women interested in going out with him. ;)
Flight 1 - Champagne starter (1 Note)
Dan paired this lovely, Pinot Noir based champagne with our opening bites of Darjeeling tea and ginger cured smoked salmon with white icicle heirloom radishes. The salmon preparation was fairly light, so it paired nicely with the light-medium bodied and fairly subtly flavored Champagne. The high acid of the Champagne definitely worked to cut through the fattiness of the fish. The radishes didn't do much for or with the Champagne, as far as I was concerned. I love radishes, especially French breakfast radishes, but I just wasn't feeling the love, or affinity of any kind, between these fresh-from-the-garden radish bites and our delicious Champagne.
Flight 2 - Chablis flight (1 Note)
For our next delicious, relatively light, savory course--fresh peas and butter-sauteed morels with feta cheese--Dan originally paired one of his beloved Chablises, a young Raveneau villages. I added a village level Chablis from Dauvissat with a little bottle age on it, an '05. Both wines worked in their own way with the wonderful dish: the '07 had the higher acidity level, which helped to cut through the cheese, butter and fleshiness of the morels, but the '05 was richer, more approachable now, and so seemed to complement the overall rich and earthy nature of the dish that much better.
Flight 3 - Aromatic White flight (2 Notes)
This next course--Momofuku-inspired "Asian caprese" of peeled cherry tomatoes, silken tofu, shiso, pickled mustard seeds and sherry vinaigrette--was brilliantly creative in itself, and when added to Dan's two selected pairings, it proved, for me, to be the most magic wine/food pairing of the night. The two wines Dan chose are very different in nature, and they played off the light, flavorful, smooth-textured dish in very different ways. The Grüner was typically light, aromatic and spicy--reminiscent, if you want to go there, of a high to medium pitched wind instrument, like a soprano or piccolo clarinet. It spoke to and brought out the lighter, herbal components of the dish, especially the baby shiso leaves. The mature white Bordeaux had more of a base line to it, like a rich cello, and it sang with the lower notes of the dish, highlighting the earthiness of the tofu and the smokiness of the sherry vinaigrette. Bravo, Dan, bravo!
Flight 4 - Rich White (and Burgundy) flight (3 Notes)
Dan had selected two wines to go with the next course: Salmon sous-vide with fava bean risotto. Those were the '99 Le Méal and the '02 Meursault. Both worked well with the remarkably light textured and subtly flavored dish. The Le Méal was more of a contrast, because its richness of texture and flavors stood out even more against the dish. The Meursault was closer in texture and subtlety to the dish. The Le Méal was such a pleasure to drink, and not challenged in any way by the delicate dish, that it was my favorite pairing of the two. To continue the musical metaphors, it was probably something like a dramatic coloratura soprano singing an aria to the accompaniment of light, subtle strings. The Meursault, which was good, was at its best matched with bites of the delicious risotto.
When I read salmon on the menu and saw two white wines for the pairing, I had to see if a Pinot, preferably Burgundy, was a better match. The answer, in this case, was no. The Burgundy, a lovely '05 Chambolle-Musigny that is probably a year or two away from being fully open for business again, was perfectly fine with the salmon, but did no particular favors for the risotto. All in all, this dish would have been fine simply as the backing ensemble to our coloratura soprano.
Flight 5 - Elegant Red flight (3 Notes)
For our final meat course--Roman style "maiale in agrodolce," sweet and sour glazed pork chops with broccoli raab--Dan proceeded outside to the grill. We joined him, starting to sip on our two lovely reds. The Paolo Bea is always a dramatic, attention-getting performer itself, and I'm not sure our pork made an ideal pairing with it. I wouldn't mind lingering with this wine as the centerpiece itself, with just a simple accompaniment of light cheese, or nuts. The Chevillon had everything I expect from that producer, and possessed sufficient fruitiness to play off the sweet and sour glazing of the pork, but I didn't feel that there was a real harmony or sympathy between the two--sort of like a cool French actress trying to play a scene in an American movie with an earthy, Italian actor, both of them somewhat uncomfortable with their English dialogue. The mature Grüner was probably the best accompaniment with the pork, as its relative lightness didn't try to contradict or counter the meat flavor, and the wine had some tertiary smoke and baked ham tones of it own that mirrored the smoky meat.
Flight 6 - Cheese Course (2 Notes)
Scott and I divided up the wines and cheese for this course. He brought the lovely, still youthful '93 Jacques Prieur, and paired it with its dairy compatriote, Burgundy's epoisses. I was curious to taste my first Cayuse Tempranillo with a group of fellow wine geeks, so I went with a couple of Spanish cheeses, including an aged manchego. Each of our wines went well with the cheese they were intended for, the saltiness of the manchego particularly complimenting the ripe plum of the Tempranillo. I had decanted the Cayuse for over 8 hours, and it was still a brooding beast, full of spice and black fruit. I will lay down the rest of my bottles for at least a few more years, if not longer.
Flight 7 - Sweet finish (1 Note)
For our no doubt unnecessary final sweet course, Sandy baked up Meyer lemon squares with lemons from her garden, and topped them with fresh whipped cream. She also provided our very mature Auslese. The Auslese had more of a savory thing going on, including mushroomy flavors, so, in retrospect, I think it would have been a better match for an appropriate savory dish rather than this very focused dessert, so rich with the Meyer lemon flavor. A young Sauternes or Monbazillac, from a vintage with relatively high acidity, would, in my mind, be a much better pairing for these delicious squares.
Closing
I consider myself only an adequate cook, so I am deeply blessed to know some chefs with real talent and love for food, like Dan, and our friends Sandy and Ash, not to mention the many great restaurant chefs we have in our food obsessive general San Francisco Bay Area. I therefore look forward to reporting here on future adventures in wine pairing, with Dan and my other chef and foodie friends. 
NV Roger Pouillon et Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé 91 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
Light medium orange pink color; tart cherry, tangerine, raspberry nose; creamy textured, tart strawberry, tangerine, raspberry, mineral palate with good acidity; medium finish 91+ pts.
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