Wine matching for these 7 courses?

(I'm not sure if this should be in the Forum Kitchen or here and, as the Forum Kitchen is often quite quiet I'm posting it here too - hope that's OK.)

I'll be doing a dinner for wine geek friends next week. I have a number of more standard ideas for wine matches but I thought it might be interesting to hear what people here would recommend for the following dishes (particularly any unusual pairings):

Tobacco Smoked Scallop and Chicken Liver Paté Wonton
PX truffle glaze, porcini foam, tarragon purée
Scallop is pan seared, PX Sherry and truffle oil, porcini foam is extract of the mushrooms plus herbs and stock etc, tarragon/spinach/butter purée.

Apple soup
curried white chocolate foam
Or probly a root veg salad with strawberry vinegar. Soup would be winey apple flavour, some acidity, creamy foam of vanilla white choc with Garam Masala or similar spicing.

Fried John Dory
braised red cabbage, mustard sauce
Not battered but floured and shallow fried. Mustard sauce is butter based.

Chinese-Style Braised Pork Belly
apple purée, pickled fennel, caramel-soy sauce
Pork belly is the traditional soy sauce/ginger/stock/rice wine/hoisin/spring onion style braise. Fennel braised in vinegar. Wine braised apple purée.

Slow Cooked Rib Eye
date miso, melted leeks, Stilton-horseradish sauce
Leeks cooked in butter, cider and stock.

Cheese
whipped Brie & croutons, poached apple encased St Agur & mustard
Self explanatory.

Chocolate peanut semifreddo
peanut tuile, dark caramel ice cream, chocolate paint
Think upscale snickers with accompaniments I spose. Intense choc, salty peanut, creamy icecream. Paint is dark choc-Bergamot. Would anyone dare to match a wine with this, or just a coffee?

Cheers.

This looks........like a challenge. Both in terms of wine matching and prepwork in the kitchen. But I'll have a go at it.

Perhaps a rosé for the scallops, Champagne for the 2nd course.
Next 3 courses no idea yet.
A beer for the cheese, lager or maybe an ale.
Dessert, first thought was PX.

About the menu, being a chef I can't help commenting.
I don't know if you noticed or planned for it but there are apples in 3 courses. No big deal really but perhaps you could replace it somewhere.
You've also got 2 similar cheeses (flavors) in the main and cheese course.

Would like to hear your ideas for winepairing.

Wow...that is some menu...some delicious!

Here are my suggestions:

1. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
2. Off-dry German Riesling or (For a nice contrast) New World fruity Merlot
3. Champagne (Sparkling wine) or Chablis
4. Beaujolais or Rose
5. Burgundy
6. Chardonnay
7. Port

Do you have an extra spot for me? LOL! GL...can't wait to hear what others have to suggest.

How about this?

1. Champagne preferably something in a heavier style with a bit of age.
2. Gewurz or Gruner Veltliner if salad
3. Oaked Chardonnay
4. Sparkling Shiraz or Riesling Spatlese or even Auslese halbtrocken or Zin
5. Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon
6. Left -over wine from the previous courses especially the whites.
7. Macallan 18 year old

I love these kinds of challenges. So...

Apple soup - No question, Riesling. Not Mosel, it needs more spine. The trocken or halbtrocken from Mueller-Catoir would be perfect.

Fried John Dory - I would choose a CA chardonnay, touch of oak, mainly for the mustard sauce.

Slow Cooked Rib Eye - Lots going on in this dish. Grenache-based, probably CDP, though a blend from Priorat could work.

Semifreddo - yeah, the usual wine suspects are suspect. Peanuts are the killer. But... how about cognac?

Tobacco Smoked Scallop and Chicken Liver Paté Wonton
PX truffle glaze, porcini foam, tarragon purée
Scallop is pan seared, PX Sherry and truffle oil, porcini foam is extract of the mushrooms plus herbs and stock etc, tarragon/spinach/butter purée.

- Champagne - Egly-Ouriet N/V Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs


Apple soup
curried white chocolate foam
Or probly a root veg salad with strawberry vinegar. Soup would be winey apple flavour, some acidity, creamy foam of vanilla white choc with Garam Masala or similar spicing.

- Marc Bredif 1986 Vouvray - (although the white chocolate flavour is a worry) or any top Clare Valley, South Australia 2005 Riesling

Fried John Dory
braised red cabbage, mustard sauce
Not battered but floured and shallow fried. Mustard sauce is butter based.

- Freycinet 2005 Chardonnay (Tasmania, Australia)

Chinese-Style Braised Pork Belly
apple purée, pickled fennel, caramel-soy sauce
Pork belly is the traditional soy sauce/ginger/stock/rice wine/hoisin/spring onion style braise. Fennel braised in vinegar. Wine braised apple purée.

- Trimbach or Zind-Humbrecht Gewurtztraminer Vendange Tardive (hopefully with some age on it!)

Slow Cooked Rib Eye
date miso, melted leeks, Stilton-horseradish sauce
Leeks cooked in butter, cider and stock.

- Seppelt 2003 St. Peters Shiraz (Great Western, Victoria)

Cheese
whipped Brie & croutons, poached apple encased St Agur & mustard
Self explanatory.

- I'm stumped on this one! ..... but some sort of full-bodied red, I suppose.

Chocolate peanut semifreddo
peanut tuile, dark caramel ice cream, chocolate paint
Think upscale snickers with accompaniments I spose. Intense choc, salty peanut, creamy icecream. Paint is dark choc-Bergamot. Would anyone dare to match a wine with this, or just a coffee?

- Morris Premium Liquer Tokay (Rutherglen, Victoria) or Seppelt DP60 Tawny Port (Barossa Valley, South Australia)

I agree with Daniel about the reappearance of several ingredients (chocolate, apple and mustard) throughout your otherwise highly individual and innovative menu. Hope it all goes well for you!

PS - I'd serve the pork belly before the fish

Am I the only one who sees the first two courses and thinks, "Bual Madeira"?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've made a not of them all and will try and incorporate as many as possible.

The menu wasn’t designed to be a “wine dinner”. It’s more a mix of dishes I’ve worked on over recent months, all thrown together and thus the course continuity is a little choppy too. I expect it’s therefore more challenging than it would be if it were specifically “wine focused”. Having said that what does that say about food-wine matching in general (or does it say more about this menu?)?

Re ingredient repetition, I'm aware of it (there’s also mustard repetition, and chocolate if you count that too). I feel it can sometimes be nice to have a recurring theme. But the apple does bother me a bit. Bear in mind it’s still a somewhat tentative menu – I’m thinking of changing the soup course to something else entirely (as I said), and was considering exchanging/dropping the apple puree with the pork belly. (Prep will start on Tues and I am estimating a total of about 6-8 hours pure cooking prep (excluding setting up, cleaning etc) based on past experience.

David, why would you serve the pork belly before the fish? The pork belly has much stronger flavours in it due to having a reduction sauce. The mustard is only light in the fish dish.

Tobacco Smoked Scallop and Chicken Liver Paté Wonton
PX truffle glaze, porcini foam, tarragon purée

Rose champagne

Apple soup
curried white chocolate foam

Soups are always tough matches texturally. I agree with Chenin Blanc or Riesling suggestions

Fried John Dory
braised red cabbage, mustard sauce

I started to agree with crisp chardonnay, but dry Riesling does very well with mustard sauces for rabbit and chicken, and might here too.

Chinese-Style Braised Pork Belly
apple purée, pickled fennel, caramel-soy sauce

Apples & Pork equals Riesling. If the dish isn't too sweet, you could attempt a PN or Nebbiolo


Slow Cooked Rib Eye
date miso, melted leeks, Stilton-horseradish sauce
Leeks cooked in butter, cider and stock.

Agree with big red ideas, though Stilton -horseradish makes nothing a sure bet

Cheese
whipped Brie & croutons, poached apple encased St Agur & mustard
Self explanatory.

Maybe sweet but not quite dessert white, MSR Auslese or demi-sec Vouvray?

Ben,

Here are the definitive recommendations :

1. 1996 Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill Champagne
2. Trimbach Gewurztraminer (any year)
3. 2003 Tegernseerhof Riesling (Austria)
4. 2001 Dr. Fischer Ockferer Bockstein Riesling
5. 1994 Smith-Haut-Lafitte (Red)
6. 2001 JJ Vincent "Les Clos" Pouilly-Fuisse
7. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Actually, I don't think that you can go wrong by following any of the recommendations that have been offered.