The Wine

Sat down with Bob and Richard from L'fet Bank Wine distributors to taste and choose the wine for the upcoming wine dinner. We tasted two pinot gris, two rieslings, an unoaked chardonnay, two pinot noirs, a cabernet and a syrah. The Cab and syrah were from Washington state the rest Oregon. Of the pinot gris I opted for an old favorite that used to be on our wine list. I had forgotten how much I liked it. There were supply issues at the time so we had to remove it from the list. I'm not sure but I might pair it with some truffled ravioli. Of the rieslings I went with the one that would be considered less food friendly. A little sweeter than the other but I know my customers and they would prefer the sweeter one. (After all this is Wisconsin) I'll pair it with a little spice and natural sweetness. Of the pinot noirs I went with the fuller of the two. Still on the lighter side but will match up well with the king salmon I have planned. The cab was also surprisingly light. Right now I'm leaning toward pairing it with pork done two ways. It is light enough to be followed by another pinot noir. I was looking for something big enough to pair up with beef, a milder bleu cheese and huckleberries. The pinot I'm serving with that course we didn't taste. I'm familiar with it and I predict will be the hit of the evening. A big bold pinot. I also didn't have to taste the dessert wine. I'll be experimenting with the pairing in the next couple days.

I ended up having to add a wine for a total of six. I'll also serve an amuse to start dinner making a total of seven courses.

A little on the food:
I'll be getting in super fresh king salmon from the northwest as well as huckleberries and truffles. I hope to find a mild artisan bleu cheese from Wisconsin if not I may go with Maytag. For the pork two-ways I hope to line up some suckling pig. I'm a little concerned about this because of my love for animals and the "baby" pig is going to be hard to look in the eye. I'll be playing with peaches for dessert and will add a touch of chocolate somewhere. Some people just have to have their chocolate.

I should have the menu firmed up by the end of the day. Stay tuned.