Sommelier Notes for October

by Bill Summerville

BURGUNDY
The Land of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Sometimes I’m very particular about my food and wine pairings. My preference for oysters- a fino sherry, or Rïas Baixas, both from Spain. Only pair the driest of champagnes with caviar. Caviar has much too strong a personality and makes a mess of champagne.

And sometimes I think there’s way too much emphasis put on it. “Just eat, drink and be merry.”

Fortunately this menu is easy enough to pair to with just a couple of caveats.

The Apèro Course

The Apèro course offers a little adventure. The dishes are simple enough that you could look for a delicious, unoaked, mineral-driven white burgundy or other similar wine- something lighter with good acid from a cool climate. Or, you could splurge and get a complex and more expensive white burgundy that will become more intriguing as it sits in your glass.

The  caveat in the Apèro course- the époisses cheese goes specifically well with red burgundy.

This is a tried and true classic.

Bœuf Bourguignon

Historically speaking the cuisine of Burgundy has its roots in peasant food. These dishes were created when the people making them had more time than money and so lesser cuts of meat were stewed in wine and leftover bits and pieces of meat were turned into a terrine or the like- waste not, want not as the old saying goes.

There’s another old wine saying, “If it grows together it goes together.” And so bœuf bourguignon and red burgundy should be a match made in heaven. Now this may be sacrilegious, but the richness of bœuf bourguignon may be too much for many red burgundies in my opinion. This dish needs a wine with depth and richness to stand up to the intensity of the sauce that is a result of the reduced braising liquid.

The Opportunity

So I’m suggesting two whites and two reds. Taste them with the suggested dishes and then taste each wine with a couple of different dishes to see how they pair.

With wine pairing always remember:
There are only so many great pairings.
There are many more pairings where nothing happens.
The best way to know a good pairing is to taste a really bad pairing.

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