Suggestions Please

[washingtonred]

Dinner is Lamb Chops with carmelized onions and a fig compote~
Pairing suggestions please?

[washingtonred]

Thanks for all of your suggestions! The menu item was for a dinner out with some out of town guests. Go figure, I get to the restaurant and the item is no longer on their menu... Website way outdated!

[Bill Hunt]

Bogus! Now, tell us what you went with and the wines that you picked, please.

Hunt

[washingtonred]

I ended up with Ruby red Idaho trout steam baked in parchment with basil, lemon, mint and Flori di Sicilia ( I think this added a bit of orange to it?). The trout was paired with fingerling potatos, greens, and a bluberry buerre rouge was on the side~

Opened a 2005 Maryhill Reserve Chardonnay~ Beautiful pairing, excellent meal.

Hunt, be sure to add Ella's Supper Club to the list of wonderful places in Spokane.

[ChefJune]

sounds like it would like a Gigondas to me.

[Bill Hunt]

If the chops are first grilled, prior to additional cooking with the components, I'd opt for a N. Rhône Syrah, either a Côte-Rôtie or Hermitage.

As for the Ch. Musar, I've had it many times and all experiences have been excellent. I have not found it to be "unreliable," but then, one's mileage may vary.

Hunt

[TonyO]

Here is my suggestion: Cuvee Le Bec from the Santa Ynez Valley @ $20. It is a blend of Grenache (46%), Mourvedre (23%), Syrah(22%), and Counoise(9%). Delicious, widely available, and fairly priced.

[Bill Hunt]

Ah, Beckman's Cuvée Le Bec. Had not thought of that. One possible problem might be the availability. I did not see where the OP was located. In AZ, just over the mountains from CA, we can only get his Rosé (Grenache), though we always stop in a buy a few mixed cases, when in the SB area.

Hunt

[TonyO]

Hunt,

I just ordered a mixed case (6 white/6 red) from www.wineaccess.com. $200 including shipping. I thought that was a good deal altough I have never had the white (I believe it is called Le Bec Blanc).

[Bill Hunt]

Though I have visited several times, I do not recall a white. Maybe this was kept in the back, away from the rif-raf, that would congregate in the tasting room, myself included. Even Mr. Beckman never mentioned this wine, but then, he probably saved it for the worthwhile customers, and not the likes of me. Let me know what I have been missing, and the blend of this wine, please.

Hunt

[Megiac]

I remember tasting a white at Beckmen in February. It was the last stop in a day of wine tasting, however, so I don't remember much else about it....

[whiner]

Cote Rotie.

That said, almost anything Syrah (preferably not Aussie) anything else Northern or Southern Rhone, or Piedmont would be good. A fruit driven Burgundy or New World Pinot could also be good.

Actually... upon reflection... a good barrique aged Barbera (Sandrone, La Spinetta, Clerico, etc) might be the best pairing...

Really, lamb pairs well with such a variety of reds...

[Dr. Debs]

Rhone wine, no question, will be excellent. There's a Rhone for every pocketbook, and I would guess any with grenache in it (most will also have syrah) would be excellent.

[zin1953]

Given the other ingredients, I'd go with a grenache-based Southern Rhone.

[Chicago Mike]

Most richer reds will work fairly well...

For "lamb chops" by themselves, my first choice would be cabernet sauvignon...

But since you have the fig compote, you can tweak it just a bit to bring the overall dish closer to whatever red wine you ultimately select...

If you go with cabernet, add a hint of cheddar, gouda, or parmesan reggiano and fresh black pepper to the fig compote...

If zinfandel, a hint of parmesan and cranberry....

If syrah, a hint of pecorino and cranberry...

If Rioja, a hint of iberico and prosciutto....

[Frodnesor]

At risk of re-starting the "Paula Wolfert Lamb Shanks Debate" all over again (which finally, mercifully ended last month), let me just say that I don't think the dish needs any help to pair well with wine, and that adding any form of cheese (or cranberry) to a fig compote is a bad - or at a minimum, unnecessary - idea.

[Chicago Mike]

Compotes are routinely mixed with all sorts of ingredients.... the ones I list above are very tame, but suit your own palate.

Here's 21 Fig and Cheese recipes to get you started:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=fig+cheese

Here's a couple Fig and Cranberry recipes to get you started (this one served with cheese, btw):
http://festivalfoods.net/recipes/cranberfigwal.pdf

Another Fig-Cranberry Compote from Bon Appetit:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/5690

Here's a picture of a Duck entree served with Fig-cranberry compote:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2004/12/05/CMWINE34pairings.DTL&o=3

If you scroll down to the bottom of the following link you'll find a recipe for traditional Emiglia-Romagna Fig & Cranberry Compote:
http://www.virtualitalia.com/recipes/...

The next time I post there, I'll inform them that you think their recipes are bad ideas!

[Frodnesor]

- Thanks, that'll save me the trouble of paying a visit to "recipezaar.com".
- The fact that a recipe exists doesn't mean it's a good one.
- I've got no problem with figs & cheese together, or even figs & cranberries together (though that picture of a duck breast w/ figs and cranberries en croute looked like a scary Hot Pocket). I simply feel absolutely no compulsion whatsoever to combine them in a dish which sounds perfectly fine as it is.
- I will say no more. This is exactly how the never-ending Lamb Shanks quagmire started. One simple disagreement, a couple googled recipe lists, and before you know it you have 500,000 troops in Vietnam.

[Chicago Mike]

while any number of dishes are "perfectly fine as they are", the issue (for me anyway), is not the dish by itself but the dish as a match for the wine...

.... and as a wine match, IMO the dish certainly can be improved....

Further, the poster gives no specific recipe for the fig compote they have in mind, another reason why I'm offering these recipe suggestions for it.

[Frodnesor]

A grenache-based rhone blend would probably really complement the fig component in particular.

[carswell]

Any of a wide range of rich reds. The sweet onions and compote would argue in favour of a sweeter style. Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Rhône blend, Languedoc-Roussillon. Personally, I'd probably reach for one of the fine red blends from Lebannon made from varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cinsault.

[RicRios]

"one of the fine red blends from Lebannon "

Which ones, besides the (very unreliable) Chateau Musar ?

[zin1953]

It's not that unreliable -- not in my experience.

[carswell]

Musar tastes different, sometimes significantly different (though almost always delicious), from vintage to vintage but is fairly consistent from bottle to bottle within a vintage. Wouldn't call that unreliable.

Have enjoyed the Château St-Thomas line across the board, and the top bottling delivers great QPR. Château de Kefraya's Conte de M is excellent if pricey. The top Ksara cuvées are worthwhile. I also enjoy the Musar/Hochar lower-end cuvées. Château Les Cèdres ain't bad either.