We had a lovely meal of “kappo” style Japanese food on NYE: tofu/uni/caviar; fermented lobster; sashimi; fish tempura; shrimp dumplings in miso soup; rice; and choice of grilled yellowtail or grilled wagyu (we got one of each to share).
Knowing in advance that this meal would have subtle flavors and mostly seafood, brought a bottle of 2009 Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Noirs Cote de Bechalin. Lovely wine and not nearly as austere as most zero dosage wines. Drank more like white burgundy, nice acidity, meyer lemon, a bit of toast. On that night, seemed like a good pairing for the variety of seafood dishes, some cooked, some raw, some lean, some fatty. Ordered another beverage for the beef.
The couple next to us brought a bottle of 2009 Mouton Rothschild. They also took one of each the yellowtail and wagyu, sharing each. I noticed they drank pretty slowly, maybe 1/4 of the bottle by the time their beef arrived as the last course. I think they may have finished the wine by the end of the night, including by offering a glass to the chef, who asked if the wine could be drunk before 15 years of age. Didn’t hear the customer’s answer. No idea if the customer was a wine connoisseur. Bordeaux is not what I would have chosen for such a meal, but I’m sure the customer who brought it for the special occasion enjoyed it and the meal very much. That’s what counts at the end of the day.
This got me thinking, do you guys ever just want to drink a certain wine, food pairing be damned?
People can be overly fussy about pairings, but this situation seemed like an extreme case going in the opposite direction. I don’t understand the sushi / syrah / Robert Parker joke that some people make on this forum, but maybe it has some applicability here.
Yes, although rarely because I love the wine-food pairing game.
Really, most wine-food pairings are not bad or horrible
(I define a “bad” pairing as one where the food or wine makes the other worse; “horrible” as the each make the other worse). I’ve found most pairings to be “fine” (each does not make the other appreciably better or worse) or “good” (one makes the other better). Only every once in a while do I find that “excellent” pairing where both the food and wine make the other better, but it’s lots of fun trying!
Ultimately, “fine” and “good” are perfectly acceptable, and if one wants to have a particular wine, regardless of the food, then they simply should!
Yes, but only with fairly inexpensive wines. I won’t open anything really nice when the only food option is something that makes no sense. Without food or with simple appetizers, sure, but not with a meal that won’t work. The wrong food pairing very often makes a nice wine taste terrible to me.
Your story reminds me of my favorite sushi restaurant in Portland, Maine, that used to be BYOB. Their omakase is always impressive, so going to this restaurant would be a special night out for a lot of people. As a result, a lot of people would bring high end Bordeaux, often aged, to drink with their sushi. I always found that a little funny, as we sat there enjoying our Champagne and Riesling. Whatever makes people happy…
When I bring wine to a restaurant, I usually pick the wine I want to drink and choose food that goes somewhat well with it… E.g. if I want Syrah, I won’t order fish, but chicken/duck/beef/pork would all be fine Vice versa with a Riesling/Grüner.
If I wanted to drink that 09 Mouton, I’d go to a different restaurant.
We mostly always pick the food first and then try to find a wine to go well with it. We are not overly fussy about it but we got into wine through food so it always come first for us. If we are bringing wine to a restaurant we will look at the menu online first to see what we might like or bring a few options to choose from depending on what we order.
I was at a work dinner a few months ago and our host suggested to ge the crab cakes which I did (they were very good). He then ordered a big Napa cab for the table. I couldn’t think of a worst pairing but again I was a guest so I just enjoyed my crab cakes with water and took a few sips of the wine after dinner.
Sure a well working pairing is a good thing. However I would never chose a wine just because the pairing looks good, but the wine is not to my like.
I drink sips of wine also between the bites - and it should also taste good on its own.
I recently said that to a sommelier who recommended a Riesling with quite high sugar content, but I usually prefer dry whites (althoug I´m German) - so I refused and chose a dry wine. He looked slightly offended.