Paired Up: Rosé and Bouillabaisse

In our Paired Up posts, we review a wine and the food we wisely (or foolishly) paired it with. 

The Wine

2010 Syncline Rosé

We were in the mood for some seafood, and Katy came up with the idea of a bouillabaisse. Not knowing at all what to pair with it off the top of our heads, Hunter consulted the internet. A rosé of Bordeaux grapes is one of the most popular picks, and we hadn't officially tasted a rosé yet, so we headed to Metropolitan Market to see what we could find. There wasn't a lot of Washington rosé there, so we picked the one that wasn't a rosé of Sangiovese. This one, from Syncline, is made from Pinot Noir, Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan, Mourvedre, and Counoise grapes. Since it was a bit last minute, we popped it in the freezer to cool it down, and ended up getting it a bit too cold for ideal serving. Live and learn, eh?

The Food

This one was all Katy. In the chef's words:

This was an incredibly easy, slightly pricey and massively educating experience. We learned so much about how to properly buy and store shellfish. The key (that we now know) is to buy the shellfish the day of (which we did) and then, either come home to immediately cook it, or store it in packed ice... or all of your mussels will die. And it's terribly sad.

 

OK, moving on...  buying fresh seafood is an incredible luxury that we northwesterners might too easily forget. In some parts of the country, this dish may be a wallet buster, but here it is relatively inexpensive, and the ease of this dish makes it most appealing.

 

The Ingredients: (to serve 2 people)

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 3/4 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sprig fennel leaf
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp orange zest
• 8 mussels (ideal) or 6 clams (if you accidentally kill all the mussels and have to go back to the store late at night, when they only have clams left)
• 2 Halibut cheeks (or 13 ounces of any sturdy white fish)
• 8 fresh shrimp (peeled and de-veined)
• 1.5 cups of boiling water
• pinch of saffron

Heat the olive oil in large saucepan, add onions, leeks, chopped tomatoes, and garlic. Cook over low heat, stirring often until all veggies are soft (a few minutes). Stir in the fennel, thyme, bay leaf and orange zest. Add shellfish and boiling water, stir to combine. Season to taste, turn the up heat to high, and bring to a boil for 3 minutes.

 

Add Halibut cheeks and reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until fish is cooked through; opaque and tender, yet still firm. Season to taste with salt and pepper, add a pinch of saffron, and serve immediately.

 

Some side notes to keep things moving quickly:

• Fennel: this is a very good, simple veggie, and learning how to properly prepare one is really key. I watched this really easy YouTube video to learn how a while ago, and found it invaluable.
• Mussels: remember to keep them on ice until you're ready to cook them, then rinse them under cold water, scrub the shells, and use scissors to trim off the "beards" that are visible. It's kind of gross, but they are soooo yummy.
• Clams: if you are using these, try to go for the smaller sized ones. Once the shells open up, they will take up a LOT of real estate in your saucepan! Also, if you have the time, place them in a large bowl of cold salt water with some corn meal for a half hour a couple of hours before you cook them, this will encourage them to filter out any left over sand inside of them.
• Peeling Tomatoes: This is another handy trick to know in the kitchen... to easily peel a tomato, bring a small saucepan to boil, then drop your tomatoes into the water, leave for about 1 minute, or until the skins begin to blister a bit. Remove immediately and once they are just cool enough to handle, peel off the skin. This should be easily done, but you may need to lightly score the skin on a few to get the peel loose enough. If the recipe calls for de-seeding, simply quarter the tomato and scoop all the innards out. Voila!

Hunter's Gatherings:

The wine has a pale salmon-orange hue almost to the point of being a touch watery. The nose is closed initially (probably due to being too cold), showing peach and strawberry at first with anise coming in as it warms. The wine tastes of light berries and peach with some decent gravelly structure. 86

The wine gave a burst of spice to the clams, making the flavor of the dish a bit more bold and making the clams a highlight (along with the halibut cheeks, which were fantastic!). Otherwise, there wasn't much in the pairing that really blew me away. Nothing bad either, it just really didn't excite me much.

Katy's Take

The Wine:

The pour was a salmony-orangish hue, very pale, almost watery in it's clearness. The nose was of a moderate intensity, that showed some tinges of age, along with a very faint, slightly tight, elusive floral bouquet. Very light and hinting at fennel and some oak. Off dry and crisp, with a medium body, it was also moderately flavorful with the same light and floral traits as on the nose. The attack was young and bright, bursting with a crispy fruity orange that mellowed out into a very dry, peppery, chewy and smokey finish. 87

 

The Pair:

The melange of citrus and briny flavors in the dish seemed to further brighten the initial attack, and overall finished extremely well with the olive oil that was very prevalent in the stew. Together each piece deepened the other's pepper and orange peeks, and brought the crispness of the wine more forward. Wine with Food: 89

The Conclusion

We'll have to call this one a split decision. While Katy was able to pull out some great flavors and nuances in the pairing, Hunter was left a little underwhelmed. Next time, we will definitely make sure we get the wine cooled down well ahead of time and buy the mussels just in the nick of time!