Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Pork and Pinot

Well friends, in a previous post I said I would test the 2007 Schug Carneros Pinot Noir against a really nice pork dish, and here is the report. For this pairing I brought out the big gun: my favorite Crispy Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder (Food and Wine Dec. 2003). I love this dish. I first made it for Christmas dinner in 2006. Since that time, my dear friend GourmetGal (http://thefrugalgourmetla.blogspot.com/) has stolen it from me after I served it at a dinner party – she makes it much more often than I do – but nonetheless, I still count it one of my favorites. The garlic and ginger caramelize after the long roasting, yet the meat stays really moist. Yummy!
So I prepared this dish with some rosemary roasted potatoes and a lovely spinach salad. I have to say that I did enjoy the wine with this dish. It showed notes of dried cherries, which rounded to more of a black cherry over the course of the evening. It’s really a delicious Pinot.
And it was a really fabulous meal! I wouldn’t say it was the perfect wine-food pairing however. The spices in the meat produced just a hint of harshness in the wine. There are many other wines I’d like to try with this dish. Possibly a Zin. Or even a substantial Gewurztraminer!
And of course, now I'll have to buy another bottle of the Pinot in order to continue my search for its perfect pairing! I'll keep you posted!

2 comments:

GourmetGal said...

I am no thief, you cheeky monkey!! In fact, as I type this, I have a pork shoulder sitting in my fridge, it was on special so of course I had to buy it and now, what shall I make with it, I wonder, let me think. I just got a crock pot and am thinking of trying the recipe in the crock pot, I know it will not be as crispy, but I bet it will turn out just as spectacular.

Daphne said...

Cheeky Monkey . . I like it! I think it should be my new nickname!! :-)