Wine Wisdom from Feast and Vine

Feast & Vine founder, Donna McCormack, is delighted to share insights and recipes from her personal wine and food pairing files compiled from around the globe. Donna’s resume includes extensive study at the Culinary Institute of America, plus hundreds of food and wine classes in Asia, Europe, and North America. Please visit our website feastandvine.com for more ideas and our program of events.

Riesling: The Versatile White Wine

One of the most food friendly wines which can be paired with a wide variety of categories from delicate fish to white meats and even salty meats as ham or sausage. Riesling works well with mildly salty cheeses or even mildly pungent cheeses as Gorgonzola. One of the few wines which can be paired with egg dishes, such as quiche. An off-dry Riesling is fantastic with smoked flavours found in smoked salmon, trout or pork.

Here are some Riesling Do’s & Don’ts when thinking of a food match:

Riesling Do's

• Matches well with almost all fatty poultry – as goose or duck
• Creates a great counter balance to rich, salty meats as ham or sausage.
• Pairs well with exotic difficult spices as curry, cardamom, cumin and turmeric to name a few.
• Has pure, clean and unoaked fruity flavours which span a broad cross section of foods making it extremely versatile as a multi course wine.
• Wonderful cheese wine and can even be served as an ending wine with cheese

Riesling Don'ts

• Since Rieslings are subtle, they can get lost & left behind with foods that are too rich or dominant.
• Most green vegetables create a pucker sensation with Riesling
• Avoid traditional red-meat dishes
• Avoid too much cracked black pepper as it will overpower even the most successful off-dry Riesling

Wine Words:

Off-Dry - A tasting term that technically refers to a wine with between 0.5 and 3 percent residual sugar, or a wine that tastes slightly sweet. This is a wine that is not too dry nor is it too sweet, many Riesling styles fall within this category.

Residual Sugar The total amount of sugar remaining in a wine after fermentation, expressed as a percentage of grams per liter.

From the Wine Pantry

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedit - Served With an off-dry Riesling

Towards the end of a hectic week, there’s nothing I look forward to more than a lazy weekend brunch – but what to serve in the wine category? A sparkling wine is a possibility – or your favourite Riesling! Eggs are a hard wine match but not for Riesling. (Did you know eggs make red wines taste thin or sour -?). Here’s an easy eggs Benedict and you can even serve these with hand cut salty fries for an added dimension – enjoy!

To make the toasts:

• Use a fresh bagette and brush both sides with olive oil. Preheat oven and toast until crisp on both sides.
• Cover each with a thin slice of smoked salmon.

Note: Try to get salmon that has been smoked over wood as it is the most flavourful. If you can’t find nice sliceable smoked salmon, smoked trout will work too. Just don’t use lox as it is too oily and salty with Riesling as a wine match.

Top with:

A 4 – 5 minute poached egg, so the center is still a bit soft but not too runny.

Serve hot topped with:

Hollandaise Sauce, here is my quick version:

• Melt slowly and keep warm, ½ cup butter
• Barely heat: 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice (or tarragon vinegar)
• Have a cup of boiling hot water ready
• Pleace 3 egg yolks in a pan over (not in) boiling hot water
• Whisk the egg yolks until they begin to thicken, then add 1 Tablespoon hot water. Repeat this process three more times (or a total of 4 times)
• Then beat in the warm lemon juice.
• Remove from the heat and slowly beat in the warm butter.
• Serve at once since Hollandaise can easily separate.

Tip: be sure to keep all ingredients hot which helps sauces to emulsify.

• Add a few grains of cayenne or white pepper to the finished sauce.
• Pour over poached eggs on salmon and toast.
• Garnish with minced dill and paprika.