Preparing a 6-course dinner with wine pairing

I cooked a 6-course dinner with wine pairing for some friends who have been very kind to me during a recent illness. Eating terrible hospital food for a week had me thinking of great food I could have once I was feeling better.

Preparing a meal like this was a “bucket list” thing for me to do. I’ve had the opportunity to experience several extraordinary chef tastings that had courses paired with wines and found it to be tantalizing. I wanted to create that same experience for my friends at my home. Plus, it offered a culinary challenge for me as well as a chance to learn more about wine pairings.

I had some help with the wine pairing from my close friend, Joslyn, who shares my same passions for food and wine. She helped me with research and gave me some suggestions of wines she had tasted. Some of the wines were ones I had not tried before, and I love that she always expands my palate.

With her suggestion of the grapes and a few wines for each course, I went with menu in hand to Specs on Hwy. 290 in Houston to purchase my wines. I had an excellent wine consultant, Juan Valencia, who spent about an hour with me to help me select the proper wine that would go with the flavors of the courses. As we made the wine selections, Juan gave me the history of the wines we selected. He also had experience in the restaurant business and with pairings. I had so much fun wine shopping with him!

I cooked all day to prepare the dinner that night. Yes, I did all myself! I had no sous chef. But for me, I love doing that because cooking is a creative release for me. Everything turned out beautifully and the meal was awesome. I had one disappointment with the Pork Belly course. When I went shopping at Central Market for all the ingredients I asked the butcher for pork belly, but  he gave me pork shoulder by mistake. I didn’t realize it until I was in the midst of cooking and didn’t have time to return to the store. It still tasted great, but I really wanted the pork belly. Oh well, another time.

Table is set!

Watermelon Gazpacho

Salad of baby arugula, spinach, roasted beets, goat cheese with White Wine Vinagrette

Grilled halibut with fennel-red onion-orange topping

Lemon Sorbet to cleanse palate before meat dishes

Pork Belly Bosc with Pear Puree (Pork Shoulder)

Beef filet medallions with caramelized shallots over gruyere cheese mash potatoes and haricots verts

Creme Brulee

If you would like to try these recipes, check out the posting in my recipe section.

Before we were seated for an evening of tasting, we started out with a bottle of Villa Jolanda Processco, a great Italian sparkling.

Below is the menu with the wine pairings. I planned two different wines per course so we could taste each one with the course to decide the best pairing. It was interesting to hear each of my guests describe their tasting notes and then we came to a consensus on the wine.

1. Watermelon Gazpacho

Paired with Sparkling Rose’

Elyssia Pinot Noir – Spain  – Labet Cremant – France

(our favorite was Spanish wine with the meal and preferred the French one without food)

2.  Salad of baby arugula, roasted beets, goat cheese with white wine vinaigrette

Paired with Torrontes and Gruner Veltliner

Crios Torrontes, Argentina – Hirsch Gruner Veltliner, Austria

(the Argentina wine was preferred with this course. It had a great nose and a little buttery hint to it.)

3.  Grilled halibut with fennel-red onion-orange topping

Paired with Albarino, Pinot Gris, Riesling

Santiago Ruiz Albarino, Portugal – Trimbach Riesling, France

(we all preferred the Portugal wine with this course. Interesting note about the Portugal wine  that Juan told me is that it was made by a woman winemaker. He said many wines from Portugal are women winemakers. But we  really liked the Trimbach as well. It was a little dryer wine. I drank a bottle of the Trimbach prior to the dinner party and loved it with or without food.)

4.  Pork Belly Bosc with Pear Puree

Paired with Beaujolais

Beaujolais Villages Old Vine –Gamay, Moulin’A’Vent, – France

(the majority of us preferred the Old Vine, with one preferring the Gamay. Both were excellent)

5.  Beef filet medallions with caramelized shallots over gruyere cheese mashed potatoes and haricots verts

Paired with Italian Barbera

Castelvero, Piedmont –Araldica , Asti

(We all loved the Asti wine with this paring. It was a little less tanic with more mellow finish)

6.  Crème Brulee

Paired with  Nanerone Aleatico Di Toscana

(we did not taste this wine because we had consumed so much wine with the meal and decided to have the Piedmont to finish out the bottles)

1st Course Wine

2nd Course Wine3rd Course Wine

4th Course Wine

5th Course Wine

6th Course Wine

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