Food pairing with Semillon?

[Randy Caparoso]

I like inquiries like yours. So let's break it down. Washington St. grown Semillon tends to be a dry, medium bodied white wine (neither as full as a Chardonnay or light as a Riesling) and its acidity tends to be moderate (neither as sharp as a Fume/Sauvignon Blanc, nor as soft as a Chardonnay). The aroma, and flavors, tend to be green fruity -- suggesting fresh pear and/or fig and Thompson seedless grapes -- with a trace of floral muskiness. A light amount of French oak aging (not atypical) adds vanillin tones, plus brings out a rather curious (that is, peculiar to Semillon) aromatic nuance of tobacco-like smokiness. The texture on the palate tends to be very round and slightly fleshy (enhanced by some natural glycerol qualities).

Therefore, you want to work with white meat -- flaky fish, chicken or veal -- and create a little bit of char (to accent the smokiness) through wood grilling or fast, high temperature searing on a hot iron skillet. Use a touch of oil and perhaps deglaze with butter and a light squeeze of fresh lemon, playing off both the moderate acidity and fleshy quality of the wine. Piccata style veal, for instance, is a natural match, as capers might add a salty/nutty note to the wine.

The bottom line is that this particular varietal has a nice, clean intrinsic balance -- neither light nor heavy, and neither sharp nor "fat" -- and so the idea when cooking for it is to always create a balanced effect. Don't make the sauces, for instance, too buttery/oily or too sharp/lemony, but somewhere in between. Make subtle use of herbs (green leafy ones like basil, dill and sage would be better than strong resiny ones like thyme and rosemary), seasonings, and even fresh fruit. If you use vinegars, use soft ones like white balsamic, Sherry or rice wine; and round things out with high qualitiy oils (olive, walnut, sesame, etc.). Just keep the soft, round texture of the wine in mind.