Wine Dinner

[pelle]

We do a wine dinner every year in our home. Would like some recommendations for the following dishes.
soup: carmelized onion and portobello
Pasta with crab & asparagus
Entree: game hen with sherry, ginger and lime
Dessert: Choc cheesecake, carrot cake and berry puff pastry

We are looking for some suggestions for each course. We have some ideas but are not experts. Thank you

[wondersofwine]

Welcome to the wine board. Sounds like a terrific dinner!
I would favor Pinot Noir/Burgundy with the Portobello and with the game hen. If you can find a "mushroomy" Burgundy for the Portobello, all the better. (One such I've had was a Nuits St. Georges "Murgers" but they are likely to vary from vintage to vintage and producer to producer). With the game hen with the strong flavorings (ginger, lime, sherry) it again might take a substantial Burgundy or Pinot Noir. Possibly Torii Mor from Oregon (try one out beforehand if you can to see if the combo works) or you could go for a white such as a Gewurztraminer from Alsace. I would choose a Sauvignon Blanc for the crab/asparagus dish (New Zealand perhaps). For chocolate cheesecake I'd be inclined towards Banyuls but a sparkling Brachetto (rose' sparkler)might be a good match for both the chocolate and the berry dish. I also like a Riesling Spatlese or Auslese with carrotcake or berries.



[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 01-17-2006).]

[pelle]

Thank you for your reply, these sound wonderful. We will try them before the dinner and let you know.

We where thinking of the Villa Antinori Toscana 2002 for the Portobella's, try this if you haven't.

Thanks again!!

[wdonovan]

wow,
Please clear up a little confusion for me. Why would you want a 'matching' wine (mushroomy with mushrooms) rather than a contrasting wine? The mushroomy overtones in a Burgundy would be slight (the wine would taste more like Burgundy than mushrooms). So wouldn't a bite of mushrooms just overshadow the mushroomy character of the wine making it a waste to serve a wine with this wonderful character? I've seen similar recommendations for pairings and have always wondered about this. An example of my thinking: If you want to make a wine taste drier, eat something sweet with it. If you want to sweeten it, eat something sour. In these cases, the food masks a certain characteristic of the wine. Please shed some light.

[Thomas]

Donovan,

Thank you for the support--I've been arguing with IK for years about Chianti with acidic tomato sauce. The contrast of acidic tomato against lush southern Italian reds is far more interesting to me.

Port with sharp Stilton; fatty, lush pork with strong fruit, acidity and some RS Riesling; crisp, crackling Champagne with triple cream Brie.

Thems is contrasts!

[Kcwhippet]

You go, Foodie.

[Thomas]

Yeah KC.

Now, if only I could eat as much of those things as I once did...they taste so much better than psyllium!

[Kcwhippet]

Yuck!!

[Innkeeper]

Yuck, yuck!

[winoweenie]

2 tablespoons a day keep the prostrate O.K. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

[robr]

Citrucel is yummy too!

[Innkeeper]

Hey Berns, hate to say that we were down there for a quicky early this month, and didn't have a chance to give you a heads up. Didn't even have time to get sister-in-law to take us to Costco! We had wheels, but she had the card!

We checked out the Hard Tac Motel on Tuesday the 3d, checked the cat into a kennel, and us into the Manchester Comfort Inn. They deposited us at the Airport and we flew straight to Orlando, rented a car, and drove to brother-in-law's in Longwood. Put on lax Thursday and Friday (no contractors, or other interlopers). On Saturday, the four of us drove to Tampa for Bev and brothers's Aunt's 80th B-day. She and late mother-in-law came from a family of ten that is still rather close knit. So there were zillions of cousins there. Sunday morning we flew home (our actual new home), because I had pre-op first thing Monday morning. Maybe next time be can get together.

[wondersofwine]

Both theories--like-to-like or contrasting food/wine work for different people at different times. I have heard a Burgundy wine negociant say you can pair a buttery Chardonnay with fish in a rich sauce or you can use something more austere like a flinty Chablis to cut through the rich sauce. I enjoyed a mushroom risotto with the mushroomy Nuits St Georges "Murgers" at a restaurant and actually switched the order of the two red Burgundies I was having because the NSG tasted better with the risotto and the other wine went better with the entree. And I come down on IK's side on the Chianti with tomato sauce pasta dishes.

[Thomas]

Chianti with tomato sauce is like wearing a black suit with black shirt and black tie, and don't forget the black shoes--white sox, just to prove they are not the all the same [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

Just last night I had a thick tomato sauce over eggplant and cavatelli paired with a lush Lacrima Christi red. Instead of singing together in unison, the two sang in harmony using separate voice octaves.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-23-2006).]