Deconstruct recipe to find perfect wine match

As we reach our 30s, most of us have a decade of cooking under our belts. We’ve discovered favourite recipes, including a few in the gourmet league.

People who love experimenting with cuisine tend to find friends who share their culinary passion. My wife and I have enjoyed several foodie groups through the years.

Our latest gourmet circle consists of four professional couples. We gather quarterly and try to outdo each other with our kitchen hedonism.

The cardinal rule of our group is to create dishes we’ve never made before and always from original ingredients.

Each dinner is themed. For instance, we did a “We’ll Fake Manhattan” dinner, “A Passage to India” feast, and even a Titanic-themed supper that replicated the doomed ship’s first-class lounge recipes. Our latest take was Spanish.

My added mission is to deconstruct each recipe in advance and come up with a killer wine to match.

The complex array of tapas, including four Spanish cheeses, serrano ham-wrapped honeyed bread sticks, spiced olives and grilled shrimp was easy; a Spanish sparkling cava and Segura Viudas Brut (#216960, $14.50, 89+) deftly danced among the many contending flavour bites. Our gazpacho soup, however, was a challenge. This raw tomato-based cold soup has a dire reputation for blowing away any wine. My pick was a Spanish rosado, Campo Viejo Tempranillo Rosé (#175620, $11.95, 88) to cool the palate from the fiery spiciness of roasted red peppers, garlic and onions. It worked amazingly well. The main course — a huge paella with spicy sausages, shrimp and chicken — was a smooth fit with a lush top end Rioja, Bodegas Bordon 2004 Gran Reserva (#114454, $22.95, 91). It meshed even with the suffusive saffron spice.

The dessert included thin almond cookie crisps that fused flawlessly with a fine Tuscan Vin Santo, Sorelli Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico 2003 (#270223, $25.95, 90), a dessert white normally served with almond biscotti. Spain has equivalent whites, but none are on LCBO shelves.

Over the five hours, we managed to taste through at least a dozen bottles. We shared a taxi van to and from the dinner with another couple. With that amount of wine, it’s the only way to go. Cheers! stimmell@sympatico.ca