Paired Up: Primitivo and Leg of Lamb

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

The Wine

2007 Michael Florentino Cellars Primitivo (Columbia Valley)

Still Buzzing (oh the puns!) from our latest successful food and wine pairing, we went for something ambitious: leg of lamb. Since this was Katy's first time cooking it, we weren't quite sure what to pick out to pair with it. In stepped this Primitivo from Michael Florentino Cellars. Primitivo is the Italian name for Zinfandel, which is typically a very flexible food wine that can go with most anything. We picked up this bottle during St. Nicholas Day Open House. It rested in our wine fridge for the past few months, then we decanted it for about an hour before dinner.

The Food

This one was all Katy - the only thing Hunter helped with was the eating. In the chef's words:

Lamb has always seemed a little "way-out" for my culinary forays. It seems a little too "grown-up" and, to be honest, a little too... potentially disastrous. Well, I am here to tell you not to believe the hype! I stumbled across a seemingly bullet proof recipe early one Saturday morning, and decided to go all in and make it. It was a breeze. I bought the smallest leg of lamb that we could find (cooking for 2 and drinking loads of wine to boot presents a lot of "scale" issues, so I try to combat the battle of the bulge with small proportions, when applicable...)
 

We decided to try and make a traditional, New Zealand-esque Sunday Roast and subsequent feast. We paired the Lego Lamb with some baked brussels sprouts and a different sort of baked potatoes.

Paired Up: Pinot Noir and Salmon

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

The Wine

2009 A to Z Wineworks Pinot Noir (Oregon)

We first tried Pinot Noir with salmon at Anthony's Pier 66 last summer, and it proved to be an awakening of sorts. The splendid balance between the fish and the wine gave us our first glimpse of what was possible when the proper wine was served with the proper dish.

In the Pacific Northwest, Oregon is still the place to go to for the best Pinot Noirs. This one comes to us from A to Z Wineworks in Dundee via our local Metropolitan Market. Due to their high quality and increasing visibility, many Oregon Pinots have been climbing in price, but this one can be had for around $20. It was stored in our living room for about a week, then we decanted it for about an hour before tasting.

The Food

For Valentine's Day, we paired up our cooking skills and made a northwest classic: salmon, asparagus and smashed potatoes. Katy tackled the salmon and potatoes while Hunter prepared the asparagus.