Pairings
Doug Jamieson
From my perspective, the main objective of a sommelier is to provide interesting and useful information about wine, spirits and beer to those who seek it.
My goal for these articles is to focus on the B.C. wine industry, because I think it is such an exceptional wine region in the world. But when I have some cool information to share, then I want to pass that on too, even if it's not necessarily "wine" related.
So with this week's article I am going to provide some standard, but brief, wine info and then I'm going to challenge conventional notions and share something unique and interesting as a pairing idea.
This week we are pairing our selection with fresh pear pie, as prepared by chef Tony Rechsteiner of the College of New Caledonia, culinary arts program.
A classic pairing for a pear pie might well be an Okanagan icewine. When icewine is made well it has strong backbone of acidity to balance the sweetness and allow the full-flavoured character of stewed fruit, nuts and caramel to come out.
So, for those of you who are not scotch fans, which is where I am going with this week's pairing, I am going to suggest three Okanagan icewines that would be a great pairing with pear pie: Ganton & Larson Prospect Winery - 'Lost Bars' Vidal, Stoneboat Vineyards - Verglas and my personal favourite, Domaine Combret (aka Antelope Ridge) - Chardonnay.
These icewines will all exaggerate the delicate flavours of pear and caramelized sugar in the pie, and have enough acidity to balance the sweetness all around.
But what I really wanted to share this week is a unique pairing idea for chef Tony's fresh pear pie.
Recently, I hosted a scotch tasting at the Riverstone Bar & Grill and we were all guided through the tasting with the representative of the Bowmore Distillery, Plamen Velikov, who walked us through examples of Bowmore 6, 12, 15 and 18-year-old whisky.
I am going to focus on the Bowmore Darkest, 15-year- old, which has been matured in bourbon casks and finished in Oloroso sherry casks.
This last finishing treatment adds lots of colour to the scotch and imbues some sherry and oak character to the flavour profile of chocolate, raisin and baking spices, which then combines with the peaty character of this "Islay" distilled spirit.
Many scotches are intended to be drank with up to the volume added in distilled, room temperature water to help "loosen" the esters and phenolic compounds and actually enhance the overall appeal of the whisky.
The Bowmore Darkest, 15-year-old is not one of these scotches. Adding water will actually make this scotch less cohesive and not as enjoyable as intended.
From a flavour and matching perspective, the inherent acidity in the scotch will balance well with the sweetness of the pear pie and enhance the caramelized sugar from the pie baking process.
The Bowmore Darkest is the type of scotch you drink as an aperitif and therefore, particularly given its flavour profile, a good match with this baked desert.
Although admittedly not a classic drink to pair with pear, I think you will enjoy the outcome if you dare.
