WTN: Two wines with food

Boiled shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce, Caesar salad and crusty rolls:
2006 Edmunds St. John, Gamay Rosé Bone Jolly:
As has been said many times here, this is a terrific rosé with fresh and intense raspberry/strawberry flavors, great acidity, a solid mineral backbone, and, best of all, its bone dry. I like it ice cold from the fridge and, depending on the weather, sometimes over ice. And its one of the very few wines in my cellar I will drink without food. In short, a very versatile wine.
I chose this bottle, with Diane’s help, mainly because of its cut and juicy flavors. Matching a spicy, horseradish based sauce is tough but we both felt that this would stand with it and not be so viscous as to cloy. Moreover, the horseradish would not be competing with lots of tannin or any kind of sweetness, whether RS or just the impression of sweetness left by alcohol or extraction (and while some spicy dishes are best served by a sweet or off-dry wine, I don’t think a horseradish based sauce is).
It worked about as well as I could have hoped because it refreshed the palate after the heat of the sauce, brought out the tomato flavors and was juicy enough to balance with the texture of the shrimp. And the fact that it was ice cold also helped offset the spice/heat.
This is a match we will both remember and likely extrapolate on with other spicy meals and certainly at times when horseradish is an ingredient in a dish. 13.2% alcohol and about $17; more than worth it.

Sautéed wild salmon (rare) with sautéed Portobello and truffle oil, and a side of fennel salad:
2004 Terres Dorées (J.P. Brun), Côte de Brouilly:
Much like Burgundy on the nose with black cherry, herb, mineral and cocoa tones; lightweight in the mouth but intense with flavors that echo the nose, good acidity, some tannin and the overall delivery softens with air; a dry, lasting finish. A high-toned wine that is a little disjointed but shows more complexity than at release.
I chose this because it is usually somewhat lighter than most of Brun’s other Beaujolais and the fish was to be done very simply. And although the wine did show that lightness, it never quite matched as the salmon/mushroom mix was earthy, rich and smooth but the wine seemed hollow when tasted with it and its flavors were jarring. I can’t figure exactly why this failed, especially since the wine was very pinot-esque but this is not a pairing I would repeat. Apart, both the wine and the food were agreeable.
12% alcohol, imported by Louis/Dressner and about $20 on release; I’d buy it again.
(Aside: the last several times we’ve had salmon with red wine (mostly pinot) I have begun to think that white wine may be a better choice. Something that might be closer in texture, say an aged chardonnay or fleshy new world sauvignon. I’ll try one of those next time. Suggestions?)

Best, Jim

Boiled shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce....and while some spicy dishes are best served by a sweet or off-dry wine, I don’t think a horseradish based sauce is....

I agree completely. Horseradish, like a fresh mustard, is more of an olfactory hot, which can dissipate quickly, as opposed to peppers, which are "in the mouth" hot, and can linger for a much longer period of time. I often serve bubblies with horseradish based shrimp cocktail sauce. Nice post. Maybe I could get used to this.

Jim, as you know the combination of tannins and oily fish can give an unpleasant metallic taste. We eat a lot of Copper River and Yukon River salmon which are high in fat content. We usually use a butter/tarragon baste. I find an aged, medium-bodied Oregon Pinot Noir goes well. Believe it or not, a full-bodied Riesling works well. The acidity of the Riesling works well with the fat from the salmon. I've lost my taste for Z-H wines, but their Rieslings work well with salmon. Chardonnay might work, but so many of the full-bodied Chards are flabby.

Jim, what kind of salmon are you eating with your Pinots? Sockeye, with its much deeper red flesh, seems to me to demand Pinots or other red wines. Chinooks are another matter as they are paler, and in flavor they are a little more like stealhead. Drink Chinooks with whites if you will.

Clint, this was sockeye.
Randy, someone also suggested Gruner and the more I think about it, the more I'd like to try one with a little age which is when they start to take on a bit of a mushroom element. And I hear you on Z-H (although, if I remember correctly, you've got some pretty remarkable gewertz. (Rangen) from them, don't you?).
Howie, yeah, I never thought of it that way but it makes sense. Thanks for the mustard analogy - I'll remember that.
Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

Nicely done Jim. I do like the way you are exploring the logic of the pairings; much more sensible than many food & wine matching discussions I have seen.

I can see where you are going with the white wine pairing for salmon. I actually find the "matiness" of salmon comes out more with cooking, so if you left it rare then it would be more delicate in flavor (if likely meatier in texture). I would normally think about dry Riesling from the Nahe, as it frequently has red fruit components that would compliment the salmon, but the mushroom element send me more towards Grüner Veltliner as well, and not a federspiel style either, but rather a full-bodied smaragd style wine. While not from the Wachau (and therefore not smaragd) I might try an older bottle (pre-1999) of Brundlmayer's Alte Reben (usually quite rich) or an older Nigl Privat (less rich, more piercing).

While not from the Wachau (and therefore not smaragd) I might try an older bottle (pre-1999) of Brundlmayer's Alte Reben (usually quite rich) or an older Nigl Privat (less rich, more piercing).

Yep, I think Brundlmayer's AR may be just the ticket and I have a '98 taking up cellar space. Also thought about Knoll's Vinothekenfullung bottling which is really viscous and powerful or maybe the 99 Hirtzberger, Honivogl, which is about the best GV I ever tasted.
This is great - the GV idea has my wheels spinning.
Thanks, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

This is great - the GV idea has my wheels spinning.
Thanks, Jim

That's why you need posi-traction. Otherwise when you're stuck in the mud in Alabama...

Nice post. Maybe I could get used to this.

Me too. Jim, pairing wine with food is what got me interested in wine in the first place. Your discussion of the topic is the best I've encountered.

FWIW, I've pretty much given up on Pinot with salmon, unless the fish is grilled. I think Rielsing (kabinett or QbA) makes a superb match, and I've enjoyed Pinot Blanc as well.