Dan McDonell

Course #1: Memphis pulled pork, buttermilk waffle, tomato rhubarb ‘cue sauce, pickled carrot and rhubarb relish
Wine #1: Blanc de Noir from Wilhelmshof, Germany.
Pinot Noir makes great sparkling wine, and your ‘cue sauce sounds finger licking good. That started me thinking about hand wipes, then lemon aromas, then sparkling wine. I think this will clean up our palates the way a hand wipe cleans the hands.

Philosophically, I just love the idea of bubbles, barbeque & blues.

Course # 2
Chicken “confit” and greens Agnolotti, chicken and greens roulade, chicken consomme
Wine #2: Weingut Keller 2007 “Von der Fels” Riesling
From a food and wine standpoint, this is a no brainer. The wine has great acidity and a terrific texture that will cut through the fat of the chicken and at the same time match the earthiness from the greens.

This is perhaps my favorite pairing too because both the music and the style of wine suffer from stereotypes. I’ll let Greg and Jim talk about the cultural importance of Superfly on Friday. I hope that as people learn about a layered character and soundtrack that offers a lot more than perhaps first meets the eye (especially a biased eye), they will taste one of the best dry German Rieslings around and open their minds to a class of wine that far too often falls prey to a misconception of being sweet and one-dimensional. We will convert at least one non-believer (in Riesling), I guarantee.

Course #3
Ancho and cacao roasted beets, carrots, and favas, served with watercress salad
Wine #3 Olson Ogden Syrah, 2005. The balance of cacao, anchos and beets here sounds great, and I think people will be ready for a bolder red. If the same combo was used on a piece of lamb, I would go right to Syrah, and it will be fun to think about a wine like this as pairing for veggies. I hope this will show how selection of spices and cooking technique (i.e. roasting the beets and changing the sugars) can be more important to pairings than the dominant item in the dish. This wine is from the biodynamically farmed Unti Vineyard in CA.

Philosophically, while I listen to a wide range of music, I have not given nearly enough time or attention to rappers like Common (I know all the lyrics to ‘Mama said knock you out” to give you a sense of my rap culture). It’s time for an upgrade, and I do not think that I am alone. Likewise, people who love bold red wines with names like “Hermitage” and “Cote-Rotie” seem to ignore modern, American Syrah. This is a chance to re-introduce wine lovers to what is going on in with syrah in California. (Fyi, Hermitage and Cote Rotie are small towns in France’s Rhone Valley that produce beautiful Syrah dominated wines that can be as gorgeous as they can be expensive…)

Course #4 Fennel and herb crusted hanger steak, braised marrow, potato terrine, oyster mushroom ragout
Wine #4 Scherrer “Zinfandoodle”, NV V6.7
This is a great Alexander Valley Zin that will be delicious with the steak, no questions asked, but the pairing is as much about the music as it is about the food. At this point though, I am not giving any more clues to the philosophy of the pairings. I want our guests to think about why the wine, food and music are paired and to share their own thoughts. It’s ok to disagree, and I hope some people do. I will say here that Winemaker Fred Scherrer has a mini recording studio at the winery and plays a mean guitar. When I asked once what type of music he plays his response was “loud”. I think he’ll approve of the pairing.

Course # 5 Seasonal berry cobbler, creme fraiche ice cream, port wine reduction
Wine #5 1999 Schwibinger Pinot Gris, Auslese.
I have a small change to request on this dish, Team Clandestino. Is there any chance the port reduction can be turned into a sweet white wine reduction? I’ll provide the juice, but I think this particular wine would do better with a white rather than a port. This wine is a fairly rare format in that not much late harvest Pinot Gris seems to make it to the market and we were really happy when the producer offered it to us. It should be a good way to end a night full of discovery.

Can’t wait – the menu and the music look terrific.

Damien