The chicken or the egg

[cape chef]

Do you choose your wine first and prepare your meal around the wine? Or do you make up your menu and then try to match it with wine?

Examples.

[Pierre]

that depends on which you are showcasing.

if i had a really good bottle of wine that i wanted to open and taste, i'd match the meal to the wine.

if i had some fresh salmon filets or braising lamb, i'd match the wine to the food.

[Pete]

I have to agree with pierre. It all depends on the occasion and what wines I have. Most times it is just pulling a bottle from the wine rack, that will go with the meal, but sometimes, when I have a really good wine I want to show off I will create around those wines.

[MarkV]

Have to agree with Pierre & Pete.

Mark

[cape chef]

Originally Posted by Pierre

that depends on which you are showcasing.

if i had a really good bottle of wine that i wanted to open and taste, i'd match the meal to the wine.

if i had some fresh salmon filets or braising lamb, i'd match the wine to the food.

Yes, Of course. I understand all this.

Looking for some examples of actual pairings and how you went about it.

Like, if you have some sweet briny oysters you want to prepare, what wine would you pair with it and why? Depending on the preparation.

[MarkV]

I can't imagine eating oysters without champagne, (Bollinger preferably), especially if they are raw.

Yes a crisp savignon blanc or a steely Chablis would work, but for me, Champagne is the only way to go.

And if I want a light style Taittinger is my choice.

Mark

[chrose]

Originally Posted by cape chef

Like, if you have some sweet briny oysters you want to prepare, what wine would you pair with it and why? Depending on the preparation.

I have found for me personally that if I am preparing seafood, especially shellfish I prefer Muscadet especially Sèvre-et-Maine. The Atlantic air seems to serve the grape well and produce a crisp white wine that mingles perfectly with shellfish. Not terribly unlike Champagne. Oysters and Muscadet

[Pinot]

Back to the original question , I usually prefer to choose the food first. I like to choose the best and freshest available and most items are at their best at certain times of the year and not others . Once I have food in hand I choose the wine on the basis that there is always plenty of good wine available.

Occasionally I like to showcase a special wine , but I normally do that when suitable food is in season.

One of my favourites is really good Chardonnay with chicken roasted with lemon, herbs and garlic. Along with roasted veggies.
NZ sav blanc is supreme with fresh seafood.Especially if consumed in daylight hours.

[Pierre]

here's a couple of my favorite pair-ups

cabernet & dark chocolate truffles
a peppery merlot & a grilled NY strip or steak au proive
tawny port and creme brullé

[Mangilao30]

Everyone has their favorites, whether you are an expert or not. I am a bit of an amateur but my hubby is more of the expert. Your choices also depend on your cellar. We usually cook and then match the wines to the food since my hubby has been collecting wine for over 20+ years, I was in 5th grade at the time. Ha! Ha!

For this past Easter we had a ton of great wines, over 150 years of wime, most of them were over my head but I know one was older than me, a famous one, 1971 Haut-Brion. I did not like that one very much. I feel like a dodo most of the time when I'm around wine but at least I can smell cork now and that took a year of learning.

I did like a 1988 Alteni di Brassica, a Sauv. Blanc, very good, fragrant, smelt of caramel, apricot and plain lusciousness. I don't know these names by of course, the hubby knows them by heart. I don't like wine snobbiness, I just try them and try to remember the ones I like, that is all. As a wine guy friend of mine said to me "Don't read about wine, drink it, the good, the bad and the ugly."