World Wine Weblog

Pairing seafood with big reds: Sesame seed encrusted Ahi Tuna and Mourvedre

I love seafood, but I don't particulalry like white wines, which are typically recommended for pairing with seafood dishes. Several years ago, I discovered that grilled salmon pairs well with Pinot Noir, and that my penchant for big reds makes bigger Pinot Noirs, such as Irony, nicely complement grilled salmon with a spice rub. I've discovered what may be my favorite pairing yet between a seafood dish and a big red wine: sesame seed encrusted seared Ahi Tuna and Mourvedre. The peppery, spicy flavor of a 2008 Chateau Ste. Michele Mourvedre turned out to be the perfect complement to the peppery, spicy flavor of the meal. Here is what the tasting notes from CSM winemaker Bob Bertheau say about the wine:

“Mourvèdre is traditionally blended with Rhone-origin varietals, but it’s the shining star of this wine with just a touch of Syrah for additional layers. This is a round and elegant wine that exhibits flavors and aromas of Herbes de Provence with white pepper spice. There is an underlying meat and earthiness that is beautifully complex all on its own, with an interesting juxtaposition of very soft tannins.”

For Christmas Eve dinner each year, we've taken to experimenting with non-traditional meals. This year, we found some good looking Ahi tuna steaks at Costco for $12.99 / pound, and decided to grill these up using a tasty recipe for sesame seed encrusted Ahi Tuna that I found at GrillingAddiction.com. Following the directions thre, I rubbed the tuna steaks with olive oil, toasted up some sesame seeds and rubbed them in, along with some coarsely ground black peppercorns. I gently laid them on the rack of our Weber Genesis Silver gas grill and because they were about 1.5" thick, I seared them on high heat for 3 minutes per side vs. the recommended 2 minutes per side for 1" thick steaks. I forgot to add a dash of sesame oil, but they turned out fine (the photo above is from Grilling Addiction, as I also forgot to take a photo of the tuna steaks before we ate them).

To accompany the tuna, I turned to another online recipe - Seared Ahi Tuna with Baby Boc Choy and Seasoned Rice - found at cbsop.com (cbsop = Cooking By the Seat of Our Pants). The sauce for the baby boc choy called for soy sauce and oyster flavored sauce, but I substituted a variant of the "3-2-1" sauce from Grilling Addiction: 3 parts soy sauce (I used tamari), 2 parts hoisin sauce and 1 part hot Thai sauce (the recipe called for Sriracha Thai Hot Sauce but I substituted Thai Kitchen Roasted Red Chili Paste). Unfortunately, I didn't notice the "baby" part of the ingredients while at the store, so I picked up a regular bok choy, and cut it down to size. Evan stir fried it in vegetable oil for a few minutes to soften it up and we drizzled in some of the 3-2-1 sauce near the end. The recipe called for seasoning with Nori Komi Furikake (a rice seasoning blend containing contains sesame seeds, seaweed flakes, salt and sugar), but we we just sprinkled on some of the leftover toasted sesame seeds. We found mixing some rice, bok choy and the tuna in each forkful was most flavorful way of eating it. [The photo above is from cbsop.com].

I had originally planned to pair the tuna with Grenache, which has become my most recent favorite wine pairing with rubbed salmon, but Chateau Ste. Michelle was sold out of their most recent release of the wine, and I couldn't find any other wineries or stores in Woodinville that had Grenache. I also bought a bottle of the CSM 2008 Austral - a blend of Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah - at the winery, which we opened to taste side-by-side with the Mourvedre to accompany the tuna. The Austral was another worthy candidate, but I think the single varietal Mourvedre was the better of the two. Next time we grill up some salmon, I may try a similar side-by-side tasting, although it would be nice to find some Grenache as well ... and I find myself wondering about Carignan (though that can be even more challenging to find than Grenache).

A Hard Core Wine Tasting Experience at Lavanda

I met my friend Jane for an after-work drink at Lavanda Restaurant and Wine Bar in downtown Palo Alto last week. Jane is one of my favorite people -- even though she still hasn't responded to my invitation to join the self-disclosure movement on her blog -- and it's always fun to get together with her. Both of us love wine, and neither of us had visited Lavanda yet, so it seemed like a natural choice.

We were delighted to discover that there was a special wine tasting / release party that evening, with winemaker Dave Corey (shown below left) of Core Wine Company offering a lineup of his most recently released wines:

• 2004 Red 163 (14% Mourvedre, 56% Grenache, 30% Syrah),
  
• 2004 Elevation Sensation (another GSM blend, but with grapes more predominantly from his own vineyard)
  
• 2004 Hard Core (Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet)
  
• 2004 Soft Core (Grenache Blanc, Rousanne and Marsanne) -- actually, I can't remember now if that really is the name of the wine, or the name he wanted to use.
  

All of these wines were great -- representing the deeper and fuller end of the Grenache [Blanc] spectrum (and thus, more appealing to me than the lighter variations of the varietal). The Hard Core was the standout for me, where the little bit of cab really added a significant amount of power to the blend. Jane liked the Elevation Sensation best (that was my second favorite). Dave also has a predominantly Mourvedre blend and a Tempranillo. I want to track down some of these at a wine shop (and soon, as I think they are selling out).

Jane had to leave, but I didn't have dinner yet, and a pasta dish with Sardines looked very appetizing (and the kind of thing I would never cook at home), so I stayed on, and enjoyed a glass of the Turchi Syrah -- which was not included in the initial 3-glass tasting flight -- to accompany that. The meal was also accompanied by very interesting and engaging discussion with Matt Kahn (shown above right), a Professor of Design in the Art School at Stanford, who offered his views on art and design, and described some of his wine-related travels. He also highly recommended the Klinker Brick Zinfandel, so I'll have to go back there sometime ... perhaps when Jane and Matt can both be there, so the three of us can enjoy some fine wine and conversation together.

Three Mourvedreers: Juan Gil, McCrea, Cline

Carol and Anton were visiting this weekend, and since Carol and Amy had spent a semester in Madrid together during their junior years of college, I decided to bring out one of my favorite Spanish reds, the 2002 Juan Gil Jumilla, as we started with dinner preparations.  The Juan Gil was recommended to me by Chris at Whole Foods Bellevue ($15/bottle) after I had commented on how much I liked the 2003 Altos De La Hoya Monastrell, and he said, well, if you liked that one, and you like full-bodied reds, you would definitely like this one -- referring to the Juan Gil -- and he was right!

The Juan Gil Jumilla is 100% Monastrell, aka Mourvedre, with full, rich, deep dark fruit flavor -- a delicious wine, especially for the price.  Robert Parker also likes this wine, giving it 91 points in the latest issue of The Wine Advocate:

“I have had three bottles of the stunning 2002 Juan Gil, and it has been a remarkable experience on all three occasions. I tasted it next to some top-notch Bordeaux selling for five times the price, and it was by no means outclassed. Made from 45-year old Monastrell vines grown in rocky limestone soils, and cropped at 1.8 tons of fruit per acre, it is amazing that a wine of this quality can be found at this price given the weak dollar. A dense ruby/purple color is accompanied by gorgeous aromas of sweet black cherries, flowers, and background oak. Medium to full-bodied, supple-textured, expansive, pure, and persistent, this terrific Spanish red should be consumed over the next 3-4 years.”

We finished the Juan Gil part way through our dinner of grilled pork tenderloin, so we opened a bottle of the 2003 McCrea Mourvedre ($25, Seattle Wine Company, which I recently tasted along with the other McCrea new releases) to continue the varietal theme.  As much as we enjoyed the Juan Gil, we all enjoyed the McCrea even more; very similar profile, just a bit bigger in every dimension.  After dinner, we decided to compare the 2003 Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre ($12, Seattle Wine Company), which was good, but rather disappointing next to the McCrea -- smaller in every dimension than both of the earlier wines. 

I have heard some people say they start with their best wine, and then work "down" to lower quality (or at least lower priced) wines as an evening wears on.  I have never had success with this strategy -- I suffer disappointment (and embarrassment, if others are present) whenever I open up a bottle that is not better than the last.  Fortunately, Carol is a good and understanding friend, and so I only felt disappointment and not embarrassment during this last sequence.  Amy and I have enjoyed the Cline Mourvedre in the past, and we liked the 2003 Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel (far better than their 2002 vintage), so I may get another bottle of this to try on its own ... or at least as the first bottle of an evening.

A summary of the descriptions from the bottle labels:

2002 Juan Gil Jumilla Red Wine

We selected the Monastrell grapes for this wine from 40-year old parcels in our estate vineyards.  Here shallow, chalky soils on a bed of limestone and rock, combined with an arid climate, produces the low yields (1.8 ton per acre) required for wine of this complexity.  After harvesting, the deep purple grapes are whole-cluster macerated sur lie for 25 days, and then pressed and aged in French oak barrels.  The sum of the climate, soil, and vinification is a wine with rich color, abundant ripe fruit armoas, and a long, spicy, well-balanced finished.  (alc. 14.8%, $15)

2003 McCrea Mourvedre Red Mountain

Mourvedre, originally known as "Mataro", is a Spanish varietal successfully transplanted in the Southern Rhone Valley and Provence.  Often used as a blending grape, it thrives in sandy soils with plenty of heat.  Fruit for this wine was harvested from Jim Holomes' renowned Ciel du Cheval vineyard on Red Mountain. (alc. 14.8%, $25)

2003 Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre

Mourvedre is an exotic grape fond in the Rhone and Provence regions of France, Spain and Australia.  It is a key component in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and has a starring role in Bandol.  Once widely planted in California (wher it is often called "Mataro"), today only a tiny amount exists and Cline owns many of the historic ancient vines that remain.  Reolent of dark plum, chocolate, eucalyptus and a hint of oak, this juicy 2003 Ancient Vines Mourvedre is delicious now and will age for well over a decade.  A perfect complement to herb-roasted meets, grilled pork tenderloin or dark chocolate.  (alc. 14.5%, $12)

New Vintages of McCrea Wines at Seattle Wine Company

I sampled several of the latest releases from McCrea Cellars at the Seatte Wine Company yesterday.  As I noted earlier, McCrea is one of my favorite Washington wineries, consistently producing outstanding Rhone varietals.  There was a great selection being offered for tasting, incluging two 2004 whites -- Viognier ($19) and Rousanne ($19) -- five 2003 reds -- Grenache ($25), Counoise ($25), Mourvedre ($25), the Washington State Syrah ($25) and the Sirocco blend ($28) -- and the 2002 Late Harvest Viognier.  This was my first time trying the Rousanne and Grenache, and I found them and the others to be up to the same high level of quality I remember from the last vintage.  All of them are fruit-forward, full-throttled wines ... the kind I like best.  The Mourvedre was my favorite, followed closely by the Sirocco and Grenache.  This was my first visit to the Seattle Wine Company (which does not yet have a web site), but I am now on their mailing list and look forward to future tastings there.

2003 Red Flyer: Wine-label-centered Sociality

Another great value from Trader Joe's ($6 per bottle), Red Flyer is an inky-dark wine, with medium to full body, and a lot of spice.  The bottle label is pretty catchy, and the overall marketing quotient is pretty high throughout (with a sci-fi / Star Wars theme and a subtle, perhaps unintended, reference to a wagon many of us may remember from childhood).  I'm especially drawn to the intention expressed on the label that the bottle itself is intended as a conversation piece, a variation on the theme of object-centered sociality I blogged about on my main blog yesterday.  Unlike many other wines with a significant marketing emphasis (Marilyn Merlot comes to mind), this one is a pretty good value.  I plan to pick up some more to see if it has the intended [conversational] effect when served to a larger group.

Name: Red Flyer Wine
Home Planet Coordinates: California, U.S., Earth
Fruit Harvested from Original Life Source: Fall, 2003
Top Secret Vinifera Composition: Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Carignane
Laboratory Data: Acid, pH, Alcohol
Prepared for Colonization in Small Wooden Containment Devices for 11 Months
12-Bottle Units Created for Human Consumption: 15,000
Monetary Output: $8.99
Invasion Begins: March 15, 2005

Red Flyer represents an emerging new genre of wines that I am referring to as "entertainment wines." These wines offer exceptional value and serve as the centerpiece of any dining experience. The fanciful themed label was designed to replicate old sci-fi movie posters, specifically "War of the Worlds" and is meant to spark conversation, bring a smile to the face and laughter to the heart.

This secret blend of Syrah, Mouvedre, Grenache, Carignan, and Clone X is blended in the tradition of the French Rhone wines. Clone X, the secret ingredient, was smuggled from outer space in the hyperbolic chamber of one of the forward thinking grays.

[Update, 15-May-2005: This wine is produced by Hahn Estates.]

[Update, 25-June-2005: The secret ingredient is Durif, aka Petite Sirah.]

Altos De La Hoya 2003 Monastrell

This Spanish wine, made from the Mourvedre grape (called Monastrell in Spain) is selling for $11 per bottle at PCC this month.  A wonderful wine, especially for the price; highly recommended.