Tonight, Jean decided to cook a meal out of Charlie Trotter's Kitchen
Sessions cookbook: pork loin stuffed with dried fruit, roasted potatoes
and braised radicchio in a bacon/shallot vinaigrette. In the book, he
suggests a wine pairing of a Ridge or Ravenswood Zin, the reasoning
being that the acidity of the dried fruit demands a spicier wine, to
which I replied with a resounding WTF? Actually, I said that I agreed
with his analysis but not with his conclusions. In response, I said
that I thought that it'd pair best with a spicy, full-bodied white or a
rosé or light, high acid red. Since we were being joined by some
red-only friends, I went with the latter category. So, on to the
Celebrity Wine Pairing Smackdown:

2004 Marcel Lapierre Morgon
nose: ripe, black cherry fruit, minerals
palate: medium body, good acidity, lush and smooth

2002 Ridge Ponzo Vineyards Zinfandel
nose: jammy berries, oak, cedar
palate: medium-full body, low acid, lush

In the end, the two wines weren't as different in style as I might have
hoped, but the pairing still revealed major differences. The Ridge Zin
simply overwhelmed the food, whereas the Lapierre Morgon provided a
decent foil to the food, with the food helping emphasize the fruit in
the wine. Neither match was superb and I still wish that I could have
brought forth the '06 WSJ Bone-Jolly rosé for this meal, but
nonetheless, I feel that my choice was vindicated. However, the two
women at the meal preferred the Zin, so who knows?

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mark Lipton wrote in :

Tonight, Jean decided to cook a meal out of Charlie Trotter's Kitchen
Sessions cookbook: pork loin stuffed with dried fruit, roasted
potatoes
and braised radicchio in a bacon/shallot vinaigrette. In the book, he
suggests a wine pairing of a Ridge or Ravenswood Zin, the reasoning
being that the acidity of the dried fruit demands a spicier wine, to
which I replied with a resounding WTF? Actually, I said that I agreed
with his analysis but not with his conclusions. In response, I said
that I thought that it'd pair best with a spicy, full-bodied white or
a
rosé or light, high acid red. Since we were being joined by some
red-only friends, I went with the latter category. So, on to the

You really cheated, Mark. Bojo is a go to for most pairing questions
where one wants to be right but not dead right. There are days when I
feel that if I could have just one wine it would be Beaujolais
(especially if I were allowed to take in the full range of Morgon,
Fleurie, moulin a vent etc.) Yes one would miss some pairings but one
would always be close.
Mark Lipton



--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:25:38 -0500, Mark Lipton
wrote:

Tonight, Jean decided to cook a meal out of Charlie Trotter's Kitchen
Sessions cookbook: pork loin stuffed with dried fruit, roasted potatoes
and braised radicchio in a bacon/shallot vinaigrette. In the book, he
suggests a wine pairing of a Ridge or Ravenswood Zin, the reasoning
being that the acidity of the dried fruit demands a spicier wine, to
which I replied with a resounding WTF? Actually, I said that I agreed
with his analysis but not with his conclusions. In response, I said
that I thought that it'd pair best with a spicy, full-bodied white or a
rosé or light, high acid red. Since we were being joined by some
red-only friends, I went with the latter category. So, on to the
Celebrity Wine Pairing Smackdown:

2004 Marcel Lapierre Morgon
nose: ripe, black cherry fruit, minerals
palate: medium body, good acidity, lush and smooth

2002 Ridge Ponzo Vineyards Zinfandel
nose: jammy berries, oak, cedar
palate: medium-full body, low acid, lush

In the end, the two wines weren't as different in style as I might have
hoped, but the pairing still revealed major differences. The Ridge Zin
simply overwhelmed the food, whereas the Lapierre Morgon provided a
decent foil to the food, with the food helping emphasize the fruit in
the wine. Neither match was superb and I still wish that I could have
brought forth the '06 WSJ Bone-Jolly rosé for this meal, but
nonetheless, I feel that my choice was vindicated. However, the two
women at the meal preferred the Zin, so who knows?

Mark Lipton

I couldn't fault either wine for pork loin with dried fruit as well as
the bacon/shallot vinaigrette. Default pork dishes seem to lead to
whites like riesling or gewurz in my foggy mnd, but somehow I'm never
disappointed with zin and anything.

Not sure about Trotter's recommendation of Ravenswood, which despite
the motto almost always DOES seem wimpy to me. Few would ever accuse a
Draper zin of being puny however.

And, for all of the bachelors in the crowd (class I or class II), keep
that final note from Mark in mind!!

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

On Jan 27, 12:25�am, Mark Lipton wrote:
Tonight, Jean decided to cook a meal out of Charlie Trotter's Kitchen
Sessions cookbook: pork loin stuffed with dried fruit, roasted potatoes
and braised radicchio in a bacon/shallot vinaigrette. �In the book, he
suggests a wine pairing of a Ridge or Ravenswood Zin, the reasoning
being that the acidity of the dried fruit demands a spicier wine, to
which I replied with a resounding WTF? �Actually, I said that I agreed
with his analysis but not with his conclusions. �In response, I said
that I thought that it'd pair best with a spicy, full-bodied white or a
ros� or light, high acid red. �Since we were being joined by some
red-only friends, I went with the latter category. �So, on to the
Celebrity Wine Pairing Smackdown:

2004 Marcel Lapierre Morgon
nose: ripe, black cherry fruit, minerals
palate: medium body, good acidity, lush and smooth

2002 Ridge Ponzo Vineyards Zinfandel
nose: jammy berries, oak, cedar
palate: medium-full body, low acid, lush

In the end, the two wines weren't as different in style as I might have
hoped, but the pairing still revealed major differences. �The Ridge Zin
simply overwhelmed the food, whereas the Lapierre Morgon provided a
decent foil to the food, with the food helping emphasize the fruit in
the wine. �Neither match was superb and I still wish that I could have
brought forth the '06 WSJ Bone-Jolly ros� for this meal, but
nonetheless, I feel that my choice was vindicated. �However, the two
women at the meal preferred the Zin, so who knows?

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Agree with your conclusions, but wonder what a more restrained Zin
with acids like Dashe? I'd still bet on the Beaujolais, but might be
fairer fight.

Nice notes.

Joseph Coulter wrote:

You really cheated, Mark. Bojo is a go to for most pairing questions
where one wants to be right but not dead right. There are days when I
feel that if I could have just one wine it would be Beaujolais
(especially if I were allowed to take in the full range of Morgon,
Fleurie, moulin a vent etc.) Yes one would miss some pairings but one
would always be close.

I never said that I played fair, Joseph. However, I think that you're
underselling the ability of Beaujolais to pair with food. With rabbit
or quail, I'll take a good Cru Beaujolais over any other wine. To me,
it's made for lighter game animals. It'd probably do well with
squirrel, too, but I haven't given it a shot (so to speak) yet ;-)

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Interesting. I think my mind would have been centred on whites (I tend
to match wine to food without thought to the tastes - or lack of -
that my guests may possess. At best they will expand their wine
horizons. At worst, at least I'll enjoy the match!).

I'd have been headed for the Rhine, or maybe Australia as either an
off dry Riesling or a rich Semillon would probably be worth trying.

Reds are tougher, but your BJ was probably an excellent choice. I'm a
big Zin fan, but would never even think about using one in that
company, big or small.

Bill S. wrote:
Interesting. I think my mind would have been centred on whites (I tend
to match wine to food without thought to the tastes - or lack of -
that my guests may possess. At best they will expand their wine
horizons. At worst, at least I'll enjoy the match!).

I'd have been headed for the Rhine, or maybe Australia as either an
off dry Riesling or a rich Semillon would probably be worth trying.

Reds are tougher, but your BJ was probably an excellent choice. I'm a
big Zin fan, but would never even think about using one in that
company, big or small.


I'm with you all the way, Bill. Having dined at Trotter's restaurant
and been impressed with the wine service, I had higher hopes for his
suggested pairings, but this one was just misguided IMO.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mark Lipton wrote:

However, the two
women at the meal preferred the Zin, so who knows?

I often think that food and wine pairing is taken to extremes too often.
The right wine for a meal is the one the person prefers regardless of
anyone else's tastes. Many times when some professional recommendation
is made I don't care at all for any of the wine selections made. I do
not like sweet wines, only like a handful of white varietals and prefer
mostly zins, syrahs, pinots, petites syrahs and an occasional Cab. I
think the two women had it right if they enjoyed their food and wine!

Hi miles,

le/on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:05:20 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

Mark Lipton wrote:

However, the two
women at the meal preferred the Zin, so who knows?

I often think that food and wine pairing is taken to extremes too often.

you mean - shock horror - one actually considers that there might be such a
thing as a good match?

The right wine for a meal is the one the person prefers regardless of
anyone else's tastes.

Nope, that's the right wine for that person. However there are many people
whose wine likes and dislikes are FAR too limited and fashion driven (ABC
for example) and for them there simply may be NO wine that is both a good
match and pleases their palate. They would be better off drinking nothing,
in my view. It seems to me that it's as silly to drink a wine that wrecks
the dish simply because one likes the wine, as it is to drink a wine you
hate JUST because it goes well.

However, when serving wine for a dinner party, I feel it's better to serve
something that's generally recommended, because it's likely you'll please
most at the table.

All the Best
Ian
Suffering from severe electile dysfunction. I can't get excited about any of
them!