When the Food Matches the Wine

I have had two nights of excellent dining, with equally nice wine pairings to go with them. It is always nice when the two can compliment each other, and the wonderful company thrown in was nice as well. The first was a wine dinner at the Linn Street Cafe, prepared by chef Brett Smith with Southern Starz wines that was very good. All the wines retail for under $20/bottle.
The first course of this very memorable meal was:
Barely cooked scallops, thinly sliced and layered between equally thinly sliced kiwi, topped with a carrot and a candied citron, and book-ended by a macadamia nut coconut foam. The texture of the scallop-kiwi interaction was excellent, and the nuttiness of the foam was a nice contrast. The wine served was Mount Fishtail Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, from Marlbourough, New Zealand--the wine was more herbal than grassy, and was a good pairing with the dish.

The second course was a series of mushrooms that were served with two slices of smoked duck and a slice of Wisconsin Parmesan, with a marjoram-sherry-pancetta vinaigrette that made the dish sparkle. The duck was divine. The wine paired with it was Edgebason Pepper Pot, 2008 from Stellenbosch, South Africa. I thought the wine was delicious, but my husband thought that it sparkled with the food but was not as good alone. It is a combination of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Tannat grapes.

The third course was the best one of the night. A glazed pork belly (prepared in a sousvide), topped with poached apple and a cherry-vanilla gastrique, and rutabaga gnocchi. The pork belly was fall apart tender and suffused with spices and flavors that were easy to savor. The sousvide cooking technique is not one that we have tried, and neither had the chef done much of it, but he had just purchased a counter-top home model and was having fun with it.
Michael Ruhlman has a blog entry on it: http://blog.ruhlman.com/2009/12/the-sous-vide-supreme.html
Somethinig worth considering. The wine pairing was also the best of the night: Reilly's Old Bushvine Grenache, 2006, from Clare Valley, Australia.

The fourth course was good but not memorable. A lamb loin with bone marrow flan (rich and delicious, with just an inch square-sized piece, which was enough) and brussel sprouts. The lamb was unexciting, and under-flavored compared to the vibrancy of the rest of the meal. The course was served with a Goulart Reserva Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, from Mendoza, Argentina that was excellent, both with the lamb, and all on it's own.

We closed with a chocolate cake (dry crumb, not intensely chocolate--I could have gone for moister and chocolatier), topped with olive oil ice cream, blood orange-thyme sugar, and raspberry syrup and an almond tuile on the side. The ice cream was devine, and the tuile was the right combination of caramel chewiness and nuttiness. It went perfectly with both the ice cream and the cake. The sugar was a lovely contrast to the other sweet flavors. The wine pairing was R. L. Buller Tawny Port from Victoria, Australia. it was the least well paired wine, and a bit sweet for dessert, but would have been nice on it's own.