Wine suggestion for dinner party

[Chip]

Hello,

My wife and I are having some close friends over for dinner on Saturday, and I have agreed to cook for them. I am usually pretty good at selecting a wine for the occasion, but for some reason, I am at a loss this time. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. Here is the menu:

Appetizer: Middle Eastern eggplant and tomatoe sallad

Main course: Grilled salmon served on a bed of cauliflower puré and lentils and a side of broiled asparagus. Fresh focaccia bread.

Dessert: Walnut cake with lemon glaze

Basically, I am looking for one one to cover all the bases. Ideally, I suppose we should have a different wine for each course, but that seems a bit excessive for a quiet evening at home with some friends. I should also mention that all four of us like red wine whereas only 2 like white wine, so red is to be preferred.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Chip

[Thomas]

Not easy to do one wine to cover all three.

First, are you pouring vinegar over the salad? If so, and if it is balsamic, the best wine for that is a semi-dry white like Riesling.

Pinot Noir will do well with the salmon but the asparagus could get in the way. I have never tasted cauliflower puree, but the lentils should be ok with Pinot Noir.

For the walnut cake, I would serve a Bual Madeira.

[Chip]

Ok. Pinot Noir sounds good. Do you have a specific label to recommend? I prefer not to pay more than say $15.

Thanks.

Chip

[Innkeeper]

Hi Chip, and welcome to the Wine Board. I would also go with a pinot noir (Red Burgundy) except for the asparagus. To cover all your bases an Italian Rose' (Rosato) might be your best base if such were available there. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo, for example, is not your everyday rose'. It is darker in color than many pinot noirs, but will match better with the overpowering flavor of the asparagus.

[Thomas]

But Chip, you still neither addressed the salad nor the walnut cake.

[wondersofwine]

Maybe you could find half bottles and thus feel freer to serve more than one kind of wine. Pinot noir such as a basic Bourgogne Rouge goes well with salmon, but Sauvignon Blanc, such as a Sancerre blanc goes better with asparagus. Sauvignon Blanc might also work with the eggplant salad. Maybe have a half bottle of that if available and a half bottle of pinot noir and let the diners choose which they prefer. For the dessert you would probably find it easy to acquire a half bottle of a sweet German Riesling or go with the earlier recommendation for dessert wine.

[Chip]

Ok. Let's see here, the consensus seems to be that Pinot Noir is the best bet for the salmon. Is that right? Perhaps I should exchange the side of asparagus for some other vegetable? I had planned to sprinkle it with olive oil and broil it.

The Middle Eastern sallad has a youghurt dressing, and a fair amount of garlic and fresh mint if that makes a difference. Riesling? Sauvingon Blanc?

[Scoop]

I liked WOWs suggestion, the PN/Sauv Blanc split. But I wouldn't jettison the asparagus, especially if it's young and tender. The broiling will caramelize the sugars in the asparagus, giving it a slightly sweeter (and more wine-friendly) edge. For an adjustment, go perhaps with a Sancerre Rouge (Pinot Noir), which can have some herbaceous qualities, too.

And the Bual with the walnut cake is match made in heaven.

Cheers,

Scoop

[Chip]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I will go with the Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Noir. I will see about the Madeira. We have a bottle at home, but experience shows that our friends (and my wife :-)) usually draw the limit after 2-3 glasses of wine.

I found two interesting-looking labels using the Swedish National liquor store's search functionality (yes, there is a state-run monopoly on the sale of alcohol here). They are:

- Bourgogne Rouge Pinot Noir
- Sauvignon de Lurton

both from France. Anyone familiar with them? Just curious.