Food Pairing- Palisades (New Zealand)

I went to Palisades last week with a few friends.  I had heard many stories of how hard it was to get here so I was expecting a big adventure and a scary road.  However, going there wasn’t so bad to me, not surprising, considering I had learned to drive in a similarly highly rural area.

 My only other experience with an official wine and food pairing had been with Zeppoli’s last week.  I knew this time would be completely different with their restaurant.  It was much fancier and a different environment from the college experience for the tasting with Zeppoli’s.  Also, looking at the previous months schedule (April’s was not yet posted) it seemed they focused on less well known or more specific regions because their tastings are weekly.  I was thrilled to find out this week’s region was New Zealand.

 The food was quite unique and delicious.  There was Lamb with Apricot Sauce (bottom right), Tune with Sweet potato cake and mustard butter (upper left) and Kiwi and Strawberry Gelee.  As an appetizer we had artichoke and pepper dip.  It all tasted wonderful on its own. 

The first wine was Lawson’s Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2011, a wine in which 7.5% is fermented in French oak barrels.  The first aspect I noticed was how little color it had.  It seemed almost clear.  However, it redeemed itself with the bouquet, which smelled amazing and extremely strong.  Without food it tasted extremely sweet (right up my alley!), with passionfruit and lime hints.  I was slightly surprised that there wasn’t a huge difference in taste with any of the food provided.  In fact, I liked it without food more.  This should not be surprising, considering it is a New World Wine.

The second wine was Spy Valley Riesling 2009, which scored 91 points on Wine Enthusiast.  I enjoyed this wine less than the first.  It was more dry, which was not a huge problem, but it seemed less integrated and a little more alcoholic on the finish than the first one.  It had stronger floral tones than the first, although the description says is it ‘fruit driven in style.’  Food made a large difference in the flavor of the wine, probably part of the reason it was given such a high score.  It brought out the floral and fruity characters.  Surprisingly, I found it quite delicious with the Kiwi and Strawberry Gelee, because it made the whole palate.  But all the food helped bring out the complex, less alcoholic flavors of the wine.

The final wine was Ponga Pinot Noir 2010.  Without food it had a lingering finish, but it was not too spicy or hot, which is good for a red wine.  Usually when I taste red wines they seem to alcoholic to me.  This one was sweet and had definite berry tones.  Surprisingly, with food, the wine seemed more spicy to me.  For some reason a few of the Italian wines I had at Zeppoli’s seemed to do the same thing.

All in all, it was a successful trip and I really enjoyed all the food and wines and experimenting with the different combinations.

Success!