A Match Made in Pasta

    Pairing food and wine is a tightrope act. One misstep and you can be tumbling down into a vat of dry and bitter wine. A series of careful steps can lead your tastebuds down a path of exhilaration and delight. It is a risky adventure I love to take. 

    My favorite time to enjoy wine is with dinner. This has forced me to learn a lot about what wine styles go with various meals. I have found some real winners in the pairing game, including my beloved bottle of Château Latour Grand Vin Pauillac 2006 with the burnt ends my brother made, and my mom’s rum nut balls with Sauternes. I have also found some real doozies like a semi-sweet Riesling with chocolate chip pancakes, and the very unfortunate time I tried to have a Pinot Noir with this teriyaki rice my husband and I make that is topped with steamed vegetables and scrambled eggs. I definitely don’t recommend that one.

    As Snowy Peaks Winery and their Cabernet Sauvignon is what got me into wine, I have enjoyed being a part of their wine club. Three times a year I excitedly pick up my bottles, newsletter, two free tasting cards, and the special “extra” they seem to include with each round.

    Being a pasta fiend, I was incredibly stoked that the latest “extra” was a pasta recipe curated by the wine-tender, to be paired with one of the wines included. And the absolute best part? It was a simple, stress-free recipe even I could handle. The players for this combination included Pasta Puttanesca and the Snow Peaks Winery Élevé 2020, and I couldn’t wait to see what joy this pairing would bring.

     A spaghetti noodle based dish, the Pasta Puttanesca sauce had six very common ingredients: crushed tomatoes, capers, kalamata olives, olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Its very easy steps included boiling water and cooking pasta, combining sauce ingredients and simmering for 15 minutes after bringing to a boil, adding the pasta to the sauce, and topping each serving with parmesan cheese. It was aromatic, delicious, and one of the best pasta dishes I have had. I felt like I was in an Italian restaurant. And, did I mention how easy it was to make?

    The Élevé 2020 was my favorite vintage of this wine so far. A medium hued garnet in color, I got aromas of brambly berries, light vanilla and light olive, with tasting notes of huckleberry and other dark bramble berries, sweet vanilla, licorice and the tiniest hint of olive. It was lighter-bodied, had medium levels of tannins and acidity, and had a nice lingering finish of huckleberry and vanilla. A dry wine with these creamy fruit flavors, I found it to be absolutely delectable.

    After trying each part individually with a palate cleanse in between, I was excited to see what the two of them together would be like. Be it the right way or the wrong way, I don’t care, I started my pairing as I do all, a sip of wine, a bite of food, quickly followed with another sip of wine. I was very pleased with the results.

    To the wine, the pairing smoothed out that touch of sweet and really brough out the bramble. It also gave a kick to both the vanilla and the licorice notes, giving the wine a warm and enveloping feel in the mouth. The wine seemed to accentuate the various flavors in the pasta dish, allowing the garlic and the earthy elements from the capers and olives to really come alive. It was everything I hoped for in an Italian dish.

    It ended up being such a great dinner, I was actually sad when I had my last bite and my last drink. Having such a spectacular meal got me thinking about how much of our lives center around food and drink, and how a tasty meal can make a plain ‘ol Monday evening have a touch of enchantment to it. I will continue to be on the quest to find that next great pairing, and until I do, I will continue imbibing in Snow Peaks Winery Élevé 2020 and Pasta Puttanesca.



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