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Sometimes there is perfect synergy in a wine and food pairing. It goes beyond just working well together to actually elevating both the food and the wine, resulting in only one response, "WOW!" These "wow" moments do not happen all the time and I had one this week. This perfect pairing of Palmina 2010 Nebbiolo, Sisquoc, Santa Maria Valley with Rock Crab with a truffle sauce at Maude Restaurant is the Please The Palate pick of the week. The current regional theme at Maude is the Central Coast. The Central Coast menu was launched in July and I went for the first time in early July. It is a menu comprised of the bounty that the central coast has to offer, from fresh seafood to vegetables. And the wine pairings celebrate the delicious wines coming from Santa Barbara and more. One of my favorite dishes was the Rock Crab, served in the crab shell, and topped with truffles. The Rock Crab was paired with the Palmina 2010 Sisquoc Nebbiolo, Santa Maria Valley.
For wine lovers, Burgundy is Mecca. It is one of the world's most prestigious wine regions. While traveling to Burgundy is preferred, from April to June, Maude Restaurant brought Burgundy to us as Burgundy was the wine region that inspired the second region featured this year. Burgundy is in the eastern region of France. It is only 75 miles long and runs form Dijon in the north to Macon in the south. Burgundy is divided into five main wine regions: Chablis and Auxerrois, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise, and Maconnais. The Maude team traveled to Burgundy earlier this year to explore the region. This is a region known for its wines but also for its gastronomy with specialties such as dijon mustard, coq au vin, beef bourguignon, Burgundy snails, cassis and epoisses de Bourgogne cheese. From their travels, they created a delicious 10-course meal that was beautifully executed and it embodied the tradition and elegance of Burgundy.
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. To me, the best way to get to know a county and its culture is through its food and wine. Local ingredients and dishes, the indigenous grape varieties and winemaking processes, they all tell so much about a culture, its history and present-day. So, on my first trip to Portugal, specifically to the city of Porto, I dove right in. Located in Northern Portugal, along the Douro river, Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. From the cobblestone streets to the tiled houses to the food and wine, it is no wonder that Porto was classified as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1996 and recently awarded The Best European Destination by the Best European Destinations Agency. Porto is flanked by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the vineyards in the Douro to the east. The cuisine of Porto uses its natural resources, which include fresh seafood and meats. And there are the sweet desserts, many of which are made with what was described to me as just “sugar, sugar, sugar and eggs, eggs, eggs.”
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