Sounds impossible, almost slightly ridiculous – but in truth, absolutely do-able.

I know, I know, you’re not supposed to stump a sommelier, well…it was almost done!

I am preparing for an event on February 12th at Bergstrom Jewelers which includes pairing to cheese and chocolate.  Normally, two of my favorites ‘pairables’.  However, when my chocolatier, Kristin Moffit of Love Handles Chocolate, approached me with her white chocolate peanut truffles, I almost lost it.  

I racked my brain and racked my brain.  What could I possibly put forth that would pair to four different cheeses and three separate chocolates (one including peanut butter!)?  So, I set out across the city and asked all my ‘wine nerdy’ friends.  I called my South American girlfriend, owner of two local restaurants, thinking of mourvedre. But after discussing it, then thought of the overpowering sense to the grape.  So, I called my French pals and really they had nothing to say but Champagne…(well, not so bad), but then thought of the very predictable cop-out that that would have been.  Next, I dug through every book I had looking for the perfect compliment.  Nothing.

My brain kept going back to Chardonnay with the toasty, nutty pieces to both the p.b. and the grape but then also to some lushy soft and supple reds that might just subtly compliment the chocolate, but then again, leave the p.b. in the dust.

All until…I walked in to Wolfgang Puck’s Restaurant in the Walker Art Center.  I had some business to attend to with my good pal Bill Gelow, operating manager to the resturant, and I was in the mood for one of their kick-ass asian chicken salads, so I decided to pop in.  In the midst of our business, tasting through a new line of Alsation wines, I asked my absurd question.  ”Bill, what do YOU think about peanut butter and chocolate when it comes to pairing wine to it?”  Instead of laughing like everyone else had when I asked the question, he stopped to ponder.  I told him about my suggestions and what everyone else had offered up and we both agreed that nothing mentioned sounded very good.  Looking over at my newly opened Gewurztraminer, I said, ‘What about that?”  Without hesitation, Bill ran to grab a slab of peanut butter and drizzled it up with a thick chocolate syrup.  With the plate in front of us, we laughed and decided to start drinking through the wines behind the bar.  

Let me just start by saying, the Gewurz…a no go.

Here’s what we came up with:  Port, a gorgeous compliment to this bizarre pairing.  The soft caramelly flavor of the butter to the toastiness of the barrel and the rich chocolately complexity to both the syrup and the thickness of the port – our Tawny was a winner.

The one that took the cake?  A rare and very fun little satellite of Sauternes – a Cadillac (a sweet white wine appellation in the Bordeaux region).  A beautiful botrytized Sémillon with hints of banana, roasted pear, toasted brioche and again, a comparably thick pairing to the chocolate’s composition.  Absolutely stunning.  It reminded me of a banana split without the cherry.  I loved it.  

Thought I’d throw this little teaser in for all of you who think that some pairings are impossible!  Want to know what I’ll be using for my event at Bergstrom Jewelers, visit us at the event on February 12th or try it for yourself at home!

Cheers and here’s to your next bizarre pairing…got any?  Write to Amusée’s blog with some of your favorites.

With the launch of my new website, I have many people to thank for the design, mechanics, and behind the scenes work that have truly made my site a success.  I have received many wonderful comments in the way of feedback and honestly, none of it could have been done without these very special people.

First, I would like to thank Pete Fabian and Tim Dillon for brainstorming and helping to create and design a site that was exactly what I was looking for.  From the very beginning stages of development to business cards, right down to my final launch, these guys were the ones that truly put the Amusée logo to work.  

Next, without the help of continued resources and the right folks to help with behind the scenes programming and implementation of my site, the motion to get things up and running would not have been possible without The Gabrik Family at Techware Distribution.  With their newly formed relationship with owners, Drew and Cameron at Akayna Studios www.akaynastudios.com, Techware Distribution has worked to help me with all the resources that I’ve needed to continue to grow my business with cd/dvd creation and behind the scenes improvements to my site.  I have ordered and designed, with the help of their associates, many products that I use daily for my business.  For more information on the best group in this business visit:  www.techwaredist.com  

If you’re interested in the wonderful photography that was provided for many of my main pages, I a few very special people to thank.  First – Melanie Nashan of Nashan Photography.  The professional pics that were taken and used throughout my site were taken while catching me at a function in Big Sky, Montana.  For more information and views of her gorgeous photography, visit:  www.nashan.com

Although some of the smaller photos were only centered to be backgrounds to some of my pages (more to be included on my future ‘photo page’), the website would have not had the life that I wanted it to without his photos.  I want to thank first, my dear friend and crazy Germanic Alsation, Alphonse Walker (aka: Chairman of the Bordeaux).  Alphonse and I are long time friends and were business associates at Archery Summit Winery in Oregon. Many of the gorgeous winery photos you see were actually taken at the winery during events or as the season passed throughout the winery year.  Secondly, I would like to thank Chris Lang, a current business associate, with a strong passion for photography and illustration.  He has special interest in winery photography and does an amazing job bringing the ‘color’ out of black and white photos.  A very talented individual.  Unfortunately, neither Mr. Walker’s or Mr. Lang’s works are for sale, but I’m sure at the right price…I could contact either of them for their works.

And, last but not least…when it comes to copy, I tend to get carried away with verbiage.  If I’m not careful, it seems to just keep leaking from me without direction.  Without the help of some very special loved ones, friends and family, my verbiage, testimonials page and blog site may have never transformed.  Knowing that ‘wine’ work is always one of my first priorities, the tedious pieces to web design seemed to completely overwhelm me.  For those of you who helped to put this all together for me in a very grandiose way, you know who you are – thank you so very much. 

There is a great appreciation for folks when it comes to website design, implementation and upkeep.  You may be able to provide the copy, photos and material, but when it comes to finding the right professionals to putting it all together, one must never forget the people who made you look good, so THANK YOU for all that were involved with helping to design my beautiful and very successful website @ www.amuseewine.com

Salut to all involved!!

Monday, January 26th, I teamed up with good pal, Dagan Lynn, Executive Chef from B.A.N.K. Restaurant in the Minneapolis Westin.  Again, if you missed the class, bummer for you!  A good time was had by all with 24 people in attendance and some delicious wines and food to enjoy ~ the menu was truly a success.

While Dagan’s menu was involved, he was lucky to have several Cook’s assistants at his side to make his ‘restaurant’ menu seem easy to ‘dish out’.  With many of his recipes layered with many local, in season goodies, I spent a great deal of time making sure that the wines chosen for each dish matched perfectly with the ingredients of the dish.

I have come to have a starter signature when you take a class with me at Cook’s ~ 1. A Rosé or 2. A Bubbly.  Because December was filled with bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles, I chose a nice dry rosé for the evening’s event.  One of the main reasons for my choice was because the temperatures fell well below zero that week, and I figured the only way to ‘transport’ the minds of my students was to serve something that felt ‘pink’ and ‘springy’.  After hearing several of my students using tasting notes like: ‘fresh’, ‘lively’ and ‘strawberry’…I knew I had accomplished my goal.  The Hendry Rosé was a beautiful saignée of Cab, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Primitivo.  Fresh and fun, this was a great way to introduce the opening appetizers.  

Within minutes of the rosé came Dagan’s first appetizer, bacon wrapped California Madjool dates stuffed with Stickney Hill goat cheese and squash.  A wonderful way to compliment the fruits and veges of the season, the dates deep with its dark fruit flavors and its creamy goat cheese squash center was amazing with the Hendry wine.  Cutting thru the complexities of the dates and the goat cheese, but lifting the aromatics of the squash and its subtle strawberry peel, this was just the first of this culinary circus.

Next, Dagan whipped up one of my favorite dishes at B.A.N.K., his crispy rock shrimp.  A ‘perfect bite’ is what I’ve nick named this dish.  Crunky, salty, sweet, spicy, zesty, and textured – gotta love every morsel.  Sweet aioli, chili oil, shaved melon and starfruit along with delicious pieces of crispy proscuito make this one my favorite appetizers in the city.  While I pondered my pairing, I kept thinking about something minerally, complex, yet fresh enough to keep the palate clean with flavor.  My first thought- Oregon Pinot Gris.  One of my favorites to enjoy at B.A.N.K.’s bar is the Belle Vallée Pinot Gris, but tonite, I wanted to go with a more ‘old school’ pick.  I chose the Varanda do Conde Alvarinho from Portugal.  Unique with an old world approach, not bubbly, yet efforvescent with a seabreeze frangrance, underlaying nut and nectarine flavors and hints of citrus – this was the perfect way to compliment every aspect of Dagan’s dish.  

D-e-l-i-s-h!

Next on the menu, a gorgeous rendition of egg’s bene but with a full soft boiled egg, crab hollandaise and asparagus.  Served in a sweet little ramekin, I continued to pour the Alvarinho with this course.  As the wine opened it started transforming itself into this deeply layered- lobster shelled, creamy, wet stoned soft citrused beauty.  Perfect with the soft dripping yolk, bits of crab and fresh asparagus. Awesome!

The entrée ended up with two wines for the course as I couldn’t quite make up my mind between all the flavors in the flank steak roulade that Dagan had prepared.  Stuffed with pomodoraccio tomatoes, spinach and mascarpone cheese, the dish was accompanied by a sweet potato, apple, and northern blue cheese gratin.  Finding a soft way to approach the dish, I used Chapoutier’s entry level Belleruche Rouge, which is an ‘A typical’ example of Cotes du Rhone, Grenache and Syrah.  Found on the shelf for about $16-$18, the Belleruche is supple with hints of strawberry leave, dried jerky and dark clay.  Gorgeous with the meat, but not quite hearty enough to stand up to the gratin.  For this half of the dish I used one of my favorite new Super Tuscans, Mazzoni.  Sangiovese with a smidge of Merlot, this Italian baby held tight to its character lifting the aromas of the blue cheese yet subtly blending its earthiness into the vegetables wrapped within the meat.  

Lastly, a very cool upside down meyer lemon and blood orange chocolate and vanilla casada cake centered with a tangerined whipped cream.  This little puppy stole the show.  Hard to say, but this may have been my favorite pairing of the nite when I poured a semi sweet Alsation Gewurztraminer.  This producer, Helfrich, new to the Minneapolis Twin Cities area and hard to find, yet with the help of a few distributors in the city, I was able to get my hands on it.  The Gewurz ~ lively with a fresh, fragrant nectarine peel to its center and layered with hints of honeysuckle, Alsation soil, and a rich creamy mid-palate.  Lovely how this wine spoke directly to the meyer lemon lifting it straight from the dish even though just a hint of was used in the recipe.  Certainly, a lot of fun to keep tasting!

The class – a hit and the food, chef and pairings – a slam dunk!  If you haven’t had a chance to try Dagan’s food down at the Westin Mpls, I suggest you get yourself down there.  Don’t forget to tell him, “Leslee sent ya”.  He’s a wonderful chef with great personality, very personable and easy to talk to, unlike many of Minneapolis’s ‘behind the scenes-too good to walk out onto the floor every once in a while’ chefs.  

Trust me, check out the restaurant.  And, if you find you like the food at B.A.N.K. - check Amusee’s website under ‘WINE EVENTS’ at:  www.amuseewine.com for my upcoming wine dinner there featuring Hendry Winery on Thursday, Feb 26th.