Wine best tasted with food to match

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Wine best tasted with food to match

Tim Pawsey, Special To North Shore = News

Published: Sunday,=20 September 16, 2007

The new wine year (that'll be right about now) has kicked off with = the usual=20 round of visiting vintners.

There was a time, not that long ago, that such visits would be marked = by=20 lengthy, and often as not, convoluted tastings weighted down with more = than=20 enough minutae to exhaust even the most doting of wine geeks.

Thankfully, however, the world of wine has changed. Tastings that = focused=20 solely on the glass are now more likely to be conducted at the lunch or = dinner=20 table -- with another critical ingredient in play: the kitchen.

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Chef Pino Posteraro, of Cioppino's, shows off = a copy of=20 his new book. Posteraro is just one of the city's chef who knows a good = match=20 when he tastes it - and enjoys pairing great food and wine.

photo Tim Pawsey

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Even a decade back, searching out Vancouver chefs with a keen palate = for=20 matching food and wine was akin to looking for the proverbial needle in = a=20 haystack. However, behind many of today's stellar rooms is a wine-savvy = toque in=20 the kitchen -- likely as well versed as any of the city's leading = sommeliers,=20 and keen to come up with the best meal for the match.

One of the best is Pino Posteraro (who shares more than a few of the = secrets=20 of his culinary prowess in just published Cioppino's: A Lifetime of = Excellence=20 in the Kitchen, Douglas & McIntyre $60).

On hand for a tasting of Rosemount Show Reserve wines, presented by = winemaker=20 Charles Wish in Cioppino's stunning wine room, Posteraro again showed = his accute=20 understanding of food and wine matching with a smart menu -- including = some=20 dishes that wouldn't be so hard to emulate at home, particularly if the = new=20 book's handy.

Another occasion saw a lunch showcasing the wines of Chateau de = Sancerre at C=20 restaurant, presented by the Chateau's international director, Marc=20 Sorrel-Dejerine. Here again, recently installed chef Quang Dang = impressed with a=20 number of dishes that the wines deserved, interpreted only from advance = copies=20 of tasting notes.

Without detracting from the skills of these practitioners (including = the=20 visiting vignerons), the point is that with a little thought ahead of = time, you=20 too can come up with some killer matches that will make that special = bottle sing=20 with its supper. Here, then, are a couple of standout whites, wines = worthy of=20 any table -- and late summer plates that make them taste even = better:

- Rosemount Show Reserve Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2006.

The show reserve wines take their name from the string of annual wine = competitions and judgings through which the country's best bottles come = to=20 prominence. This wine has a wonderful creamy character with balanced = smoky oak=20 notes, luscious stone fruit and a streak of minerality. Posteraro = produced a=20 Pacific crab salad with a touch of mango and citrus that proved the = perfect=20 match. Look for the wine in coming weeks at BCLS $24.99.

- Chateau de Sancerre Blanc.

With an interesting vertical to explore covering three vintages of = superb=20 Sauvignon Blanc, the chef looked for ways to exploit wines that varied = in=20 acidity and crispness, although the classic underlying characters of = Sancerre=20 minerality and crispness remained constant. The most interesting was a = marinated=20 lobster salad with Anjou pear and Salt Spring Island goat cheese. The = latter,=20 long a traditional Loire match, helps bring out that flinty streak (more = evident=20 in the '06). The softer, more rounded '05 (BCLS $27.99) went nicely with = lavender-cured Queen Charlotte halibut wrapped around Dungeness crab. = You can=20 also find half bottles of the now more evolved '04, BCLS $14.96. And if = you ever=20 see a bottle of Cuve de Connetable '02, an unusual oaked variation which = Dang=20 served with extraordinary milk fed veal . . . scoop it up!

Both chefs chose to work with crab -- good indicators of what you = could do at=20 home, especially with fresh Dungeness from now cooler waters easily=20 available.

All too often it's easy to be wowed by what's on the plate (and = what's in the=20 glass) and overlook the fact that restaurant dishes are only more = elaborate=20 offerings of basic ingredients that you can prepare yourself, borrowing = the same=20 principals of food and wine matching suggested by these uber=20 palates.

=C2=A9 North Shore News 2007

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Wine best tasted with food to match

Tim Pawsey, Special To North Shore = News

Chef Pino Posteraro, of Cioppino's, shows off = a copy of=20 his new book. Posteraro is just one of the city's chef who knows a good = match=20 when he tastes it - and enjoys pairing great food and wine.

photo Tim Pawsey

=C2=A9 North Shore News 2007

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