By The Glass Kevin Toyama

---

Wine-pairing is as complex as you make it

ONE of the things I love best about my job is the opportunity to play with food and wine pairings. A few weeks back, a friend called to get together for dinner. After learning about the menu, I had some fun trying to match up the wines.

We started off with a light Belgian endive salad with Fuji apples, Roquefort cheese and a crisp sherry vinaigrette with a hint of olive oil, sprinkled with chopped chives. As the theme of the day seemed to be light, fast and food friendly, the natural choice for me was a Zilliken Estate Riesling 2004 ($15). We found that the wine's brisk acidity and apple and citrus notes married well with its structure. The slightly sweet fruit and mineral notes -- traced to Zilliken's black-slate soil -- along with the bitter notes of the endive worked well when supported by the rich savory flavors of the Roquefort cheese. I've always found Zilliken's Estate Riesling to be especially versatile with appetizers and salads.

The owner of Weingut Zilliken, Hanno Zilliken, is an annual visitor to Hawaii. The purity and longevity of his rieslings are amazing. To give you an idea, a little of his Saarberger Rausch 1991 Riesling Spatlese ($27) is still available in a few wine stores. If you can find it, give it a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the liveliness of this aged beauty.

With a dish of sautéed mahimahi, served with a vanilla bean-accented beurre blanc, a 2003 Robert Sinskey Pinot Noir ($42) seemed the ideal choice. The darker fruit and spice notes seemed to assert themselves in this pairing. With more of the beurre blanc added, however, the pinot noir softened up nicely and the plum and cherry notes sparkled.

Although I am not a great fan of chardonnay with richer, cream-based sauces, the L'Angevin Chardonnay 2003 ($37) from the Russian River Valley was also quite nice with this dish. With flavors of pineapple, pear, grapefruit, lemon zest and white flowers, the rich, lightly toasty finish was ideal. The beurre blanc, enriched by a bed of caramelized root vegetables (onions, leeks and carrots), rounded out the flavors and smoothed out the alcoholic finish that I find common in these pairings.

L'Angevin, one of the rising stars in the chardonnay world, is a winery to keep an eye on. Formerly of Peter Michael winery, L'Angevin owners Robbie Meyer (former assistant wine maker) and Allen Peirson (estate manager for 20 years) have been creating elegant and impeccably balanced chardonnays since their first vintage in 2001. Together, they've crafted two chardonnays, the Russian River ($37) and Charles Heintz Ranch ($43) ... I hear they have a pinot noir in the works, as well.

To finish the evening, we chose a liquid dessert and enjoyed one of the finest sauternes I've had in a long time -- the Chateau Roumieu Lacoste "Cuvee Andre" 2001 ($64).

Proprietor Herve Dubordieux, who worked for a time at Chateau D'Yquem, allowed his grapes to fully ripen on the vine. He then deployed his most experienced harvesters to make seven passes through the vineyard over the course of several days to select only the most perfect grapes for this wine. Harvested from the fabulous 2001 vintage, it is a wine with amazing intensity. It makes your mouth water -- not once, but twice from the sheer sugar-to-acid balance. Layers of apricot jam, honey, lemon curd, sandalwood and peach preserve add to a finish that goes on forever. A few bottles of this ambrosia are still available around town.

Although the thought process behind pairing wines seems complicated, I've come to realize that it is only as complex as I make it. I often look for wines that are balanced, pure, flavorful and, to some degree, simple.

Rich, buttery and oaky wines with decadent fruit call for foods of similar character, but I rarely find foods with these qualities. With this in mind, I've tried to keep it simple and the pairing process has become much more fun ... as it should be.

---