On Apr 19, 6:48 pm, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> We're having a dinner next saturday and the chef just sent over the
> menu. One of the items is a "marble of escargot with garlic and
> parsely puree". I've never known what to match with snails and garlic
> so any ideas?

If the garlic is well roasted or otherwise long cooked it tends to be
rather mild and might work with a fairly full dry wine such as
Chardonnay as Dale Williams suggested. If the garlic is raw or perhaps
just briefly warmed, it can be very sharp and overcome nearly any
wine. I might use a dry white I wanted to get rid of, since the
garlic will hide it so well that you will not be likely to tell if you
have a quality wine or not if you first taste the wine after eating a
bit of the garlic.

I see no reason why one must try to match a wine to a dish always.
Beer, and even vodka or aquavit will work well with many foods with
extreme intensity. I think I would like to experiment with aquavit or
an eau de vie de sapin, houx or gentiane. These very herbal plant eau
de vie can be very difficult to find in the US. They are bone dry,
very intense, and can be about as strong as some of the lighter
vodkas. They need to be served ice cold, and about an ounce or two is
plenty. But I would not go to the extreme of Devils Springs vodka,
even if the garlic is raw . At 160 proof, or about 80% alcohol, it
will live well up to the name, even if served ice cold. Even a classic
Martini cocktail might work well - just gin, dry vermouth and perhaps
a twist of lemon or a bit of bitters, or perhaps an olive. If you use
a pickled tiny onion, it becomes a Gibson.