Well Paired at the Wedding

We were honored to attend a reception dinner to celebrate the wedding of our two good friends, and delighted to receive this menu at our place setting. The bride carefully crafted this menu, artfully selecting a different wine to pair with each of the five courses. The result was pure, mouth-watering decadence.

A few highlights from what I learned as I enjoyed this menu:

1. The fattiness and saltiness of the first course--terrine foie gras--went exceedingly well with the semi-dry 2009 Riesling by Dr. "L" Loosen. The Riesling grape is one of my favorites and often gets a bad rap for being a "sweet" wine. Not always. In this case, there was some sweetness, but not overly so. I clearly remember notes of honey being integral to its flavor profile, serving as a balance point between the near cloying sweetness of the poached pear, and the minerality of the foie gras.

2. The Raymond Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Sommelier Selection, 2007, was the perfect pairing to the herb crusted rack of lamb. When serving red meat, red wine is usually the way to go. However, the full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon wines can often overpower the flavor of the meat. This Cabernet Sauvignon was more medium-bodied, very smooth, and quite drinkable. And the lamb didn't suffer for it.

3. The salad course came last, after 3 other courses and right before dessert. This, of course, is the complete opposite of what you might expect. However, this plain salad had the effect of cleansing the mouth of all the tastes and textures of the 3 courses that had preceded it. And, as the 2009 Firestone Sauvignon Blanc (Santa Barbara) was probably the lightest-bodied wine of the evening, it was the perfect pairing in preparing the taste buds for dessert.

4. With a dessert table, the final wine pairing might have proven to be a bit of a challenge. Our hostess ended the meal  with a Taittinger La Francaise Brut. "Brut" is another word for dry, and the crisp dryness of the champagne cut through the sweetness of each sugary morsel, and let us try each different bite with a fresh palate.