Need wine pairing recommendations for...

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DavidG
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Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by DavidG »

...dinner at Schwa next week in Chicago.

These threads usually produce suggestions all over the map, which is what makes them fun. I really could use some suggestions. This is a tasting menu, the restaurant is all BYO, corkage $2.50 per person, there will be 4 of us.

The Menu:

amuse

crab - Champagne, Chablis?
pine, mushroom, plantain

apple pie soup Riesling?
cheddar, savory, chestnut

tagliatelle Barolo (not my strong suit), Chateauneuf?
huckleberries, black truffle, veal heart

botarga Riesling, Chablis, but chocolate ???
polenta, chocolate

tiger fish White N. Rhone?
carrot, marshmallow, cardomon

biscuits and gravy Chateauneuf?
sweetbreads, red eye gravy, mustard

beef Cabernet? Bordeaux?
ramps, hen egg, shad roe

cheese depends on the cheese...

dessert depends on the dessert...
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stefan
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by stefan »

crab: '99 Volnay 1er Cru. Chablis would be OK, but the dish calls for a red Burg.

apple pie soup: water

tagliatelle: I cannot taste this dish.

botarga: What is botarga?

tiger fish: I can imagine an exciting dish. It should entice rather than assault. Maybe a vintage Champagne (Bollinger '02?) or a mature Chassagne.

biscuits and gravy: Hard to picture. Maybe a CdP that is low on Grenache. Cote Rotie should also be OK.

beef: Your choice, but for me the question is which Bordeaux.
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dstgolf
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by dstgolf »

David,

I must be getting old but I find these tasting menus too complicated and often difficult or impossible to match wines without knowing what dominates the flavour profile. Crab with pine etc...does the pine come out strong which might overpower the tradtional white burgundy with crab.

Apple pie soup sounds like off dry Reisling, Gruner Vetliner or Muscat

Every course has something that may throw a good wine pairing off. Huckleberries?? but beef heart and truffle tells me earthy aged Bordeaux or Cote Rotie/Hermitage

Bottarga may be overpowering depending on what kind,how salty etc.
Stefan ..dried grey mullet fish egg sac dried and salt cured. Comes out like a a block of press board and grated into dish. Personally hated it but only had it once and maybe poorly prepped dish/bad bottarga or me. It has been on these crazy tasting menus for a few years now and it along with these menus I'm tired of.

Tiger fish..who knows?? marshmallow and cardomon I don't get.

Sorry David but looking at the menu I give up and I personally would eat elsewhere. Alinea has one of these molecular cuisine bizarre tasting menus but each mouthful has a wine pairing that did well because the flavour profile is understood by the sommelier. Here the guess of what dominates is a crapshoot. Some matches will be right and I'm sure you'll be fooled by others. Will the chef or staff offer up wine pairing suggestions and following suit might be your best bet. Sorry for giving up but I find these menus tiring and not to my liking anymore. I like keeping the quality high and complexities simple!
Danny
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DavidG
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by DavidG »

Well Danny I'm glad we didn't invite you, you ole stick in the mud! I guess I'm not burnt out on molecular cuisine because I was never with it enough to try it, and the last time I did a big tasting menu was at least a decade ago. Sso I'm behind the times but interested in giving it a go.

I think we'll end up bringing 4 bottles. Don't intend to try to match each dish perfectly. In fact some of them undoubtedly are designed to stand on their own. I think I'll email the chef.
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DavidG
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by DavidG »

Stefan, yes I see the red burg going with the crab dish.
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stefan
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by stefan »

Thanks, Danny

>>
dried grey mullet fish egg sac dried and salt cured
>>

I would be hesitant to eat something from the sea that stefanJr's cats would refuse to touch, and this sounds like such a dish.
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dstgolf
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by dstgolf »

David,

Schwa is one of Chicago's finest and ate there quite a number of years back. They do a very good job and presentation of each small plate was pretty good. I just get a little tired because most dishes are beautiful to look at and some are hits and others not but each just a sampling. Not very wine friendly because with a bite or three it hardly justifies a bottle of wine...more like part glass. When you dislike a dish the mouthful is too much and when you love something there is not enough. Can be fun but been there, seen it, done it, and not my type of venue to go out and enjoy a night out.

The new craze around town are small plates. Chefs way of increasing margins. Charge more per dish and people are forced to spend $40-60 per person in instead of $30-40 for tradional main and app.

Yes maybe I am getting old but when I can cook better and put a meal on the table that satisfies my/and friends needs to a greater extent than most restaurants I find that I've become very critical of what restaurants are doing and venturing out less than I used to locally. Still get out enough though to keep in touch in town and when away which is becoming more frequent.

Enjoy the meal and give us some feed back.
Danny
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JCNorthway
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by JCNorthway »

David, do let us know how it turns out. I've not been there for over 10 years, and the I think the owner has closed and decided to re-open during that time. We had the same challenges as Danny when we were there. Some dishes sang - others not. But it is an enjoyable evening experience with friends.
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DavidG
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by DavidG »

Danny - I completely understand, just yanking your chain a bit! I burned out on mega-course tasting meals a decade ago and figure it's been long enough. And I have never even come close to experiencing a molecular gastronomy meal. Gotta give it a try at least once. I will report back.
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dstgolf
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by dstgolf »

David,

No issues.
If you want a worldly entertaining molecular cuisine experience why not go to Alinea. This is theatre combined with a culinary experience that is multiple steps above Schwa. More money but if you want to have the best it was a memorable experience that all are trying to match falling short.
Danny
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Tom In DC
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by Tom In DC »

Seriously, $10 corkage for the lot??? Bring a wild assortment of wines and let the somm and the chef help you decide between wines in your box and wines on the list.

I'm not sure of the prep, but:

amuse... the best Champagne you own, just to set the tone for the evening :evil:

crab with mushrooms and plantain ... sounds earthy, I'd go white burg, but Meursault over Chablis

apple pie soup... YIKES! .. Riesling seems like a good call, maybe dry from Alsace

tiger fish with cardamon (the marshmallows don't matter!) Agree with the Rhone white, do you have any Beaucastel VV? :D

Tagliatelle... Based on the sweetbreads and the chef's take on red eye gravh, this could be a good place for a great red CdP

Beef (and whatever)...I'll fall back on Hugh Johnson's advice - the best red you can afford!

Cheese...maybe a Dal Forno Recioto? Otherwise, a really good red wine would not be misplaced here. :-)

And '88 Climens, just like at Greg's wedding, is always an appropriate dessert...
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DavidG
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Re: Need wine pairing recommendations for...

Post by DavidG »

Danny - Couldn't get in to Alinea and corkage isn't as friendly there. My first choice for this dinner, though not molecular, was Goosefoot, but I couldn't get a table there either.

Tom, lots of good ideas. I drank up my remaining Beau VVs young, in fear of a repeat visit from the premox devils, and haven't reloaded because, well, what's the point if you can't age them? I was thinking this will likely turn out to be more about the food than the wine, but you're right, at $2.50/ person corkage, I could just bring in a whole box of wine and go nuts. Now if only I didn't have a 7 AM presentation the next morning.

Jon, I will report back on the experience. I go with a bit of trepidation after reading up on them, but mostly with a sense of adventure.

Another question, this one about traveling with wine glasses (apparently Schwa's are tumblers). Think they'll survive the baggage handlers as checked luggage if packed in a styro box and a Wine Check or in the Pelican-case-with-foam-cutout Wine Cruzer? Or better to put them in a soft sided wine glass carrier and take them in the cabin?
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