Sarah Tracey took us through a delicious pairing adventure
“Toast to Today” is a mantra I can get behind; and 100 wine bloggers and influencers toasted indeed, at Bubbles & Bites, an activity presented by Gloria Ferrer at the 11th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington, USA.
This session was capably presented by the smart and charming sommelier Sarah Tracey, who is a Martha Stewart wine contributor, and blogger at The Lush Life.
First, some background
Gloria Ferrer is co-owned and founded by the Ferrer family of Spain. The Ferrer family has been making wine for 15 generations, and they make wine across northern Spain, from east to west, as well as internationally, including Prosecco DOCG in Italy and this sparkling wine in the USA.
Named for José Ferrer’s wife, Gloria, the winery opened as Carneros’ original sparkling wine house in 1986 in the wind-swept, now-famous region in southern Sonoma County. The vineyard and winery teams now have three decades in the United States: grafting, farming, studying and blending Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Carneros. So when it comes to expertise in all things sparkling, Gloria Ferrer emerges with a ton of street cred.
Let’s Explore
While the winery’s inimitable publicist Tia Butts oversaw the room, we sat down to a pre-poured lineup of four Gloria Ferrer sparkling wines set on a colour blocked tasting mat, partnered to a tray of canapés.
The accompanying food bites were planned in advance by Sarah with the catering department of the Marcus Whitman Hotel, and skillfully prepared. However, like us, Sarah had not yet had the opportunity to actually try the pairings in advance; so, we all learned together.
Sarah guided us, encouraging us to set aside a bit of each bite (if we could resist the temptation to eat it all), so that at the end of the official pairings we could try some mix-and-match experimentation with the foods and wines that were not purposely paired.
She suggested we take a sip of the wine, then a bite of the food, and then another sip to see how it changes flavours, or to do a ‘milkshake’ approach where you take a bite of the food, and then add a sip of the wine, and then taste with both in your mouth at once.
We tried their different styles of sparkling wine with deconstructed food elements:
Pairing strategy #1: Acid Needs Acid
The Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut (86.5% Pinot Noir 13.5% Chardonnay) was paired with classic Bruschetta with grated parmesan and balsamic glaze.
The concept of the first pairing strategy is that a dish with high acid components (like the tomato, black olive, and balsamic vinegar here), requires a wine with a serious structural backbone; otherwise the wine will taste flat.
The bright acidity of the Sonoma Brut (which is a blend of 20 base wines fermented in stainless steel then aged traditional Champagne method en tirage for 1.5 years) balanced the high acid ingredients.
Pairing Strategy #2: Flavour Match
Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs was paired with Cougar Gold cheese and turkey pinwheel with strawberry preserve, Boursin and arugula.
The Blanc de Noirs is 91.6% Pinot Noir, 8.4% Chardonnay from a hand-harvested blend of 418 base wines, and aged en tirage for 1.5 years. A light rosé colour with Pinot Noir flavours of red berry, floral notes and a light vanilla silkiness gives a creamy palate.
The key to this pairing was picking out an accent flavour in the wine, to highlight in the dish the complementary flavour. In this case, the strawberry preserves in the dish pulled out the the strawberry-forward aromatic profile of the wine.
And while the wine did have notes of strawberry, it it also had complexity, with bread and vanilla, and on the mouthfeel the mousse was beautiful.
This was my favourite wine of the lineup. The paired dish with it reminded me of the flavours of Thanksgiving turkey which I think would make this wine a real contender for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Pairing Strategy #3: Contrast Pairing
Gloria or Ferrier Brut Rosé paired with Ahi Poke with sunomono cucumbers, sriracha, seaweed salad, and pickled ginger.
First of all, hats off to the hotel for packing such a little flavour bomb onto one little spoon.
In this case of contrast pairings, opposites attract and prove out that a pairing like this, done right, can be dynamic and stimulating on the palate. The ripe, plush vibrant fruit of the rosé was enhanced by the heat of the sriracha and ginger, and the umami of the seaweed.
Pairing Strategy #4: Flavour Match: Texture match.
For this pairing we were treated to a special wine: 2010 Anniversary Cuvée; 67% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay, and a limited edition with only 2500 cases produced. Aged en triage for five years, this was an exciting pairing with bacon-wrapped scallops and Meyer lemon aioli.
In this match up the supple and creamy texture of the scallop was complemented by the rich, soft and luscious texture of the wine, and the fat of the bacon was gently lifted by the subtle acidity.
There was an audible swoon heard throughout the room, as this pairing was tested by everybody. The smoky the fat of the bacon was a beautiful contrast of texture against the tangy tart finish of this brut.
In the end, we tried out little bites of each thing with each of the different wines to see if any of the other pairings would work as well. I like to think that bubbles go with almost anything, but this was a great exercise to really see how you can make the most of your pairings.
Do you ever tried pairing your food and wine?
Do you buy your wine first and then match your food to it or do you do it the other way around?
Disclosure: I paid to attend the Wine Bloggers Conference as a citizen blogger and this session was a delicious component of the conference.