Butter Poached Scallops Filet of Flounder over Pesto Fettucini Paired with 2008 Koonowla Clare Valley Riesling and 2008 Fournier Pere & Fils Sancerre Cuvee Silex

Just about a year ago, I prepared and posted an article featuring butter poached divers scallops, flounder filet over pesto fettucini.  This meal was a last minute gig and I was not prepared to photograph and did not put much thought into a wine pairing.  Since the original post, I prepared it again, made an appropriate wine pairing, and of course, took care of the photography.

For the recipes, please follow the link to the original post.  In this post, I will talk about the wine selection and the joy of our wine pairing (as well as share photographs of round 2).

In my original post, I recommended a dry riesling.  I stick by this recommendation and believe it to be a good choice.  However, I did not fully follow my own recommendation and decided to take another path.  One of the great things about food and wine pairing is that there is not a single answer.  Wines with completely different characteristics can work with a meal for dramatically divergent reasons.  This time around I chose a 2008 Koonowla Clare Valley Riesling and 2008 Fournier Pere & Fils Sancerre Cuvee Silex.

My choice was made on the basis of the need for acidity to balance the richness of the butter poached scallops and prominent bright fruit to balance the strength of the pesto.  The 2008 Koonowla Clare Valley Riesling answered brilliantly on both accounts with very nice acidity coupled with bright lemon and green apple fruit flavors.  This part of the pairing was brilliant.

The 2008 Fournier Pere & Fils Sancerre Cuvee Silex from Loire France worked spectacularly with respect to the acidity.  This wine is clean and crisp.  However, the fruit was more subdued than the Riesling and was balanced with the minerality one would expect from a Sancerre.  We were very pleased with the less prominent grapefruit flavors balanced with the minerality and how well this played with the pesto.  This was a pleasant surprise that brought smiles around the table.

As we enter the summer months, this is a somewhat rich yet refreshing meal with equally refreshing wines.  I will not repost the recipes here, but encourage you to visit my prior post for the details (butter poached divers scallops, flounder filet over pesto fettucini).

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig