July 1 - Match this dish - Candied Pecan Spinach Salad

[David M. Bueker]

So I'm going to lay this out. The idea is to come up with wine pairings for a particular dish. You also need to explain why you think a particular wine will work well. No changing the dish in any essential way to make a match work.

Let's see what we can come up with. We'll try to play this game every week.

Match this dish - Candied Peacan Salad
The salad is fairly straightforward. It's baby spinach leaves, tossed with candied pecans & crumbled blue cheese. The salad is lightly dressed with some fine extra virgin olive oil a little bit of balsamic vinegar and some salt & pepper to taste.

I've talked about what I match with it in the past, but I won't bring it up until later this week.

Ready...

Set...

Match this dish!

Off dry Chenin. Maybe a Vouvray.

You also need to explain why you think a particular wine will work well.

Stuart, you forgot part of your answer.

Because I thought about it a minute and the flavors just pair up. I wish I had a fancier way to say it, but I'm fairly inarticulate.

Full bodied silvaner or some other sort of Franken wine.

Same logic as Stuart, sounds like it would work

Seriously, the flavors and structure of Franken wines are not exactly the same as off-dry Chenin, but are in the same ballpark.

[David M. Bueker]

Rahsaan - do you think the sweetness of the candied nuts might trip up a dry Franken wine?

Rahsaan - do you think the sweetness of the candied nuts might trip up a dry Franken wine?

I guess I should have been more specific, I was thinking in particular of all the rich 06 Franken wines that I recently tasted that seemed to have plenty of body/alcohol and even a bit of r.s. yet perhaps with some of the herbal flavors that might be a better match for the spinach than the Vouvray. But, depending on the Franken wine, I can see how it would be a stretch and how the off-dry Chenin might be a safer choice.

What about full-bodied off-dry wines from Alsace? Or Austria? Pungent gruner with spinach?

[David M. Bueker]

Lots of good ideas already. I'm still going to wait on my personal selection.

The Gruner Veltliner is an interesting idea. There have been some vintages that were richer/thicker than others (e.g. 2006, 1995) & perhaps that would be a really good choice. Actually I have a 1995 Salomon Riesling Kogl Auslese (!) in my cellar that might work quite well. Off-dry Alsace is interesting too - perhaps Pinot Gris?

One of the things I would have to consider is if the salad is a stand alone dish or one course of a meal. As a stand alone, the blue cheese and sweet nuts suggest something sweet, so David, if you don't want to go with a Sauternes, you might want to try something local, like: Sharpe Hill Vineyard - Select Late Harvest (scroll down). However, as part of a meal progression, a dry Rose might even work.

For the same reason as others, "because it tastes good in my head"... what about a Gewurstraminer or perhaps a Muscat primarily because of the sweetness?

Or maybe a Proseco?

[David M. Bueker]

Howie - I was thinking that the salad would be a course in a larger meal (as I have used it in the past).

[Jenise]

I don't agree with any of you.

Spinach is a very strong and assertive green, and there's nothing wimpy about blue cheese. This is a big bodied salad and it will carry a big bodied wine--syrah gives you that, and even though I wouldn't pair syrah with candied pecans all by themselves, the sweetness of new world fruit should be a good match for the sweetening effect of the nuts on the salad as a whole. I note the dressing is savory, not sweet.

Viognier.
Bold enough to stand up to the bleu cheese, and while it's a dry wine, it's flavors and aromas suggest a certain sweetness that would allow it to work with the candied nuts.

[David M. Bueker]

These are the joys of wine and food matching. Everybody's different.

Ok - just to keep the conversation rolling I will say what my choice has been in the past: 10 year old+ Mosel Riesling Auslese. The sweetness of the older auslese is somewhat lower than in a young version, the beginning of secondary devleopment adds elements that work with the nuts. The last time I did this I used a 1995 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese***. That really showed two things:

1) Older auslese was nowhere near as sweet as newer "global warming" versions - we might have needed something sweeter
2) The sweet & salty (candied nuts & blue cheese) really plays off the sweetness and acidity of the wine very well.

Match this dish - Candied Peacan Salad
The salad is fairly straightforward. It's baby spinach leaves, tossed with candied pecans & crumbled blue cheese. The salad is lightly dressed with some fine extra virgin olive oil a little bit of balsamic vinegar and some salt & pepper to taste.
Match this dish!

Fluff - pressed something and lost the post.
Trying again, I'm suggesting a full-boded pinot gris that has some (if not all) barrel-ferment in seasoned oak with lees stirring, it has moderate to high alcohol (14%), moderate acidity and is just off dry. Flavours are in the typical pear spectrum and there is an earthy savoury undercurrent to the wine.
This will complement the candied nuts and the earthy spinach and cut through the piquancy of the blue. Any pear flavours in the wine will also complement all the food - just think - you could easily add pear to the salad.
There are several NZ Pinot gris made in this style, but I would also recommend a rich, fruity, savoury and earthy Central Otago [deleted]. Experience tells me it will match to the spinach, blue cheese and nuts, I'm just not sure about the candy coating on the nuts. Something to try, I guess.

Fascinating topic,
Cheers,
Sue

Edited to deleted second wine match as buried in a long paragragh about pinot gris, was not my first choice and I did express some concern about the match

[David M. Bueker]

Of course I am breaking my own (barely dry) rules here, but I have done the same salad with plain toasted pecans instead of candied. That simplifies the sweetness issue.

[Jenise]

So am I the only one here who would pair a red wine with salad? Interesting!

So am I the only one here who would pair a red wine with salad? Interesting!

What makes you say that?

[Jenise]

So am I the only one here who would pair a red wine with salad? Interesting!

What makes you say that?

Sue, come on--because I'm the only one who suggested a red wine pairing.

With blue cheese? Nah. Have to disagree with you. The combo always leaves a metallic taste in my mouth.

[David M. Bueker]

Got to agree with Stuart. I inevitably prefer white wine with most (especially blue) cheeses.

So am I the only one here who would pair a red wine with salad? Interesting!

What makes you say that?

Sue, come on--because I'm the only one who suggested a red wine pairing.

Then you obviously didn't read my post

With blue cheese? Nah. Have to disagree with you. The combo always leaves a metallic taste in my mouth.

I agree to a certain extent, especially when eating blue cheese alone. But when the blue cheese is melted into a sauce and/or is in a creamy style, then red wines may work well.

For example, I have found that cooking with Point Reyes Blue is not a problem for red wine. Over here, using Stilton can be a bit trickier, depending on the Stilton of course.

Possibly so, but in this dish, what was specified was "crumbled blue cheese." That starts pointing me toward rich, assertive whites with good acidity and a touch of sweetness.