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Pairing wines for special
events is educational

From the Vineyard to the Sea Benefit event: 5:30 p.m. Saturday Place: Dole Cannery Ballrooms Tickets: $75 advance; $100 at the door Call: 538-1522

Pairing wines to foods is an ongoing learning experience. Last week, working with chefs Ron Siegel (of "Iron Chef" fame) and Hiroshi Fukui, was a perfect example. The benefit dinner for the Lupus Foundation of America, Hawaii Chapter, was a lot of fun, but it was also an incredible learning experience for us all.

As we finalized the wine pairings on the day of the event, the biggest challenge proved to be Siegel's "Duo of Meats" course, which featured Slow-Cooked Pork Belly served with grilled Asian pear, young ginger, scallions and a sweet-sour sauce, and Crispy Chicken served with a lemon verbena poached peach, hearts of palm and a lemon chicken jus.

Most people would have chosen an elegant, well-textured, cool-climate pinot noir. Chef Siegel noted that at the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, his four-star restaurant, the sommelier would normally serve an Alsatian pinot gris with this course.

As it turned out, neither idea worked on this particular afternoon and we ended up pairing the duo with the 2003 Pfeffingen Scheurebe Spatlese, a slightly sweet, lush, German white wine loaded with tropical fruit qualities.

Sipping the wine was like biting into a cold pineapple or apricot. This not only accented the fruit qualities of the two dishes, but also balanced the acidity levels. It was quite a revelation.

This brings us to my point. Tasting wines with freshly cooked foods can make a great impact as a hands-on learning opportunity. You can clearly see why certain wines work with certain foods, and vice versa.

To this end, Lyle Fujioka and the Honolulu Lupus Foundation have put together a "walk-around" wine-and-food extravaganza Saturday, "From the Vineyard to the Sea."

Brooks Takenaka of United Fisheries will showcase a slew of fresh fish, to be prepared by some of Hawaii's best chefs. The outcome will feature preparations from French to Mediterranean to Euro-Asian.

To make things more interesting, the Lupus Foundation has solicited the help of many of the state's top sommeliers and wine aficionados. They will staff wine stations right next to each chef's station, armed with a few recommended wines for each dish.

You will have the chance to sample chef Philippe Padovani's Mediterranean-styled Shrimp Risotto with wines paired by his wine guru, Keith Kiuchi, or chef Fukui's Kampachi Carpaccio with a couple of wines I will be looking to bring along.

For you non-fish eaters, dk Steak House will serve sliced dry-aged, Sterling Rib Eye, and restaurant general manager Ivy Nagayama will be at the next table recommending wines apropos to the dish.

We think that's where the fun and the learning opportunities really begin.

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