Many of you have seen my daughter ‘grow up’ through the many years of Wine Berserkers, and fortunately not only does she love wine, she seems to have a fantastic palate. I was fortunate to take her on her first ever wine tasting trip, and we had a wonderful time, memories I will always treasure. She ‘discovered’ several of the wineries that were featured in BerserkerDay 17, including Tyler/Mae Estate, Dovecote and Clementine Carter (shout out @CamPorter@Gabe_Fabela and @SonjaMag !!) - which I know from seeing recent threads many of you are now enjoying.
Perhaps her favorite wine is Sancerre, thus, with my lone bottle of Vatan (2010 vintage) I would love to share it with her when she visits next month. The complulsive over-thinker in me (only when it comes to wine…well, mostly) is frozen in fear over the perfect pairing, and there are reasons why…namely, she doesn’t like white fish, doesn’t like the texture. She’s not had real crab legs, but is ok with crabcakes. I know goat cheese is a fantastic pairing, but that’s not a meal. I’m not a fan of lobster, as it tastes like nothing but the sauce/dip/butter you use with it, and if it’s even the slightest overcooked it’s like chewing on a dog toy.
Of course I want the perfect pairing, and where better to go than here?
Raw oysters and Sancerre go fabulously together, if she’s ok with the texture. If you’re not a lobster fan, avoid it. Grilled lobster is delicious, but you don’t want to chance it with your lone bottle of Vatan.
Seafood and goat cheese are the classics. Shrimp could be very nice. Crab cakes excellent.
One option, especially given the season, to consider is pasta primavera, which also could be very good. I’d recommend avoiding asparagus, which could be good with Sancerre, but I wouldnt risk it for this special occasion bottle. If you go Pasta Primavera, pick up the best looking fresh local vegetables and get fresh pasta. Even better, make the pasta at home if you’re ambitious. I love making homemade pasta, and especially when I’m cooking for guests. Rolling out the dough and cutting the noodles is a great group activity. Could be fun to do with your daughter helping to prep dinner.
I’m convincing myself this is the way to go.
My advice:
Mix up pasta dough beforehand
Open a bottle of champagne and roll/cut the noodles with your daughter as you have a glass
Open the Vatan, have a glass with shrimp cocktail or goat cheese on top quality grilled bread
Cook up the pasta primavera, which shouldn’t take very long, as the Vatan gets a little air
Enjoy the remainder of the Vatan with the pasta.
Or skip the pasta and do crab cakes instead.
Let us know how it goes. Whichever way you go, it’ll be a great time!
With a major disclaimer that I never tried a Vatan wine… given the less liked dishes, my first option would be a simple whole roasted chicken with milder herbs like tarragon. If @ToddFrench never tried making it, it’s one of the simpler dishes to pull off with minor efforts.
I also imagine that whiter pork cuts in a mild perhaps creamy sauce direction could work very well.
Added edit: hope I’ll enjoy similar moments with my daughter when she’s old enough for it!
I’ve never had Vatan but we really enjoy Fr Cotat Sancerre with chicken Milanese. Very light breading & capers, the Cotat seems to have the body to stand up to the dish so I’m sure the Vatan would as well. The Sancerre always seems to give an extra zip to the lemon and capers.
YES! Salt the prawns, get a pan hot with plenty of butter, toss in garlic just until fragrant, then the prawns and no more than 20-30 seconds per side. A squeeze of lemon and you’re money.
Todd,
A good friend corrects me every time I say Vatan is Sancerre - “no, no, it’s Chavignol.”
I think what he’s really saying is it’s special and my theory for all special wines is make the food as simple as possible. Let the wine shine.
Lots of good suggestions already - my suggestion is to keep what ever you decide, simple.
Ora king salmon or copper river king. Hard to source but Santa Monica seafood has the Ora.
I love shellfish, but if there are concerns , almost everyone loves the top king salmon. Easy to grill. High fat content, you don’t need to turn them over if you grill skin side down.
I’d roast a chicken on a rack with a myriad of vegetables below it to roast and cook in the fat drippings…onion, shallot, fingerling potato, and carrot.
Vatan doesn’t taste like typical sancerre, so I’d throw the classic pairings out the window. You have higher alcohol, less acid, and more phenolic bitterness than classic sancerre. I would look more to classic pairings for Alsatian riesling or even for white rhone wines. I like the chicken suggestions. It would go great with roasted pork chops. Poultry or pork with a creamy sauce. Fish/seafood in a buttery sauce. It would even work well with a choucroute!
I like the roast chicken idea with vegetables and a creamy tarragon sauce…might spatchcock it, throw it over the outdoor infrared sear for extra crispy skin. I’m going to try and find some Mt. Tam also
Bro if you cook roast chicken after you took the world’s largest shit on me when I proposed that to go with a lineup of red and white burgs I will kick you in the ballsack next time I see you.