My best friend loves to cook, and so when his daughter visited recently (from out of state) she requested a couple of things she’d seen her dad cook on Snapchat. (I told him showing off was dangerous.)
The Trebbiano
The first was lobster/crab bisque. It requires some white wine, so my BFF used Deschain Cellars’ Trebbiano. Which meant that the perfect wine to pair with the bisque was the Trebbiano.
They describe it as:
A beautiful single-vineyard, single-block wine from the Texas High Plains. Silky on the tongue, our Texas High Plains Trebbiano is a perfect wine to sip all day. A pretty and floral medium-bodied white that drinks side by side with some of the superb Verdiccio and fun-loving Soave!
I’d call it a perfect wine for a sophisticated meal or just a Sunday picnic. Enough flavor to hold up to a challenging flavor like lobster bisque, but won’t overpower it. This was our favorite from the cheese making class. And despite what you might think, it really went well with the bisque and I could tell a difference from when he makes it with a chardonnay or pinot grigio.
The Zinfandel
She also requested his smoked pork loin – and being the great dad he is – he made both. The pork loin had a raspberry chipotle rub on it, so I needed help pairing it. Luckily Deschain recommended the Zinfandel.
They describe it as:
Handcrafted right here in our “little winery that could” from fruit sourced from friends in the renowned Lodi AVA. Willem’s Zin is opulent, powerful and full-bodied, brimming with blackberry and black cherry fruit, gliding into a sensuously lingering finish peppered by earthen spices. 100% Zinfandel, Lodi AVA.
I’d say that for a blind pairing you’d never know I’d not ever tasted the wine before. The raspberry in the rub brought out the fruit in the wine and the depth of the wine was only enhanced by the spice. No one could stop drinking it. It was a great Sunday dinner wine.
Final Thoughts
Both wines were amazing with dinner, and just sitting around the fire pit afterwards. A teeny tiny bit disappointed the Zinfandel isn’t a Texas wine – but it was too good to hold that against it. Still looking forward to getting back out to Deschain for a true tasting, maybe with brunch on a Sunday morning.
