sommelier challenge

sommelier challenge
The Challenge: Select wines from the Ya-Ya’s list to
pair with a three-course menu for a table of four. Each
sommelier had a total budget of $200.
the menu and wine pairings
First Course
Photos by Rob Clement
Aaron Whitcomb, executive chef at Ya-Ya’s Euro
Bistro in Greenwood Village, Colo., apprenticed
as a sommelier under Grant Achatz at Alinea
in Chicago and has been the chef at some of
the top restaurants in Denver, including Adega,
Table 6, and Strings. That should have given
him ample preparation for this challenge, in
which his general manager, Scott Hornick, was
the host sommelier.
Ryan Fletter, CWE, general manager and wine
director at Denver’s Barolo Grill, was the visiting
sommelier in a return engagement; he was the
host for our inaugural Sommelier Challenge
(Jan. 31, 2010, issue). Fletter will be making his
first attempt at the Master Sommelier exam
later this year.
David Vogels, CWP, and Cindy Vogels, respectively the editor and publisher of Sommelier
Journal, were the moderators. Judges were four
regular guests at Ya-Ya’s: Cara Belsby, Melinda
and Marty Davidson, and Pat Sheehan.
Whitcomb designed a three-course menu
especially for this challenge, with each dish
offering a range
of flavors from
smoky to spicy
to fruity to make
things interesting for both the
guests and the
sommeliers.
Sommeliers Scott
Hornick and Ryan
Fletter, CWE (top);
chef Aaron Whitcomb (right).
Skate Wing, Cauliflower, Golden Raisin, Rapini, Chili
Hornick: Domaine Zind Humbrecht Riesling Turckheim, Alsace, France2008 $64
Fletter: Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet, Burgundy, France
2007 $69
Second Course
Glazed Pork Belly, Blis Bourbon-Aged Maple Syrup, Paprika Couscous
Hornick: Langmeil Shiraz The Freedom 1843, Barossa Valley, Australia 2005 $99
Fletter: Betts & Scholl Grenache The O.G., Barossa Valley, Australia 2007 $45
Third Course
Braised Veal Cheek, Veal-Cheek Rillette, Chanterelle Mushroom,
Smoked Beet, Cipollini Onion
Hornick: Vall Llach Embruix, Priorat, Spain
2006 $48
Fletter: Dei Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Bossona Riserva,
Tuscany, Italy
2004 $69
First Course
Whitcomb: It’s a roasted skate with cauliflower in multiple forms—
purée, florette, leaf, and a brunoise of raw cauliflower stock. There’s also
a little fried skate wing; broccoli rabe in the form of a florette, with garlic
sautéed underneath the skin; golden raisins that have been plumped in
sherry vinegar; and a purée of golden raisins, mixed with a stock made
from the skate bones. There’s a brown-butter powder on top.
Fletter: I was trying not to pour Chardonnay for this course, but as I
kept thinking about it, I think the dish requires a classic Chardonnay that
shows some hazelnut, stone fruit, tree fruit, but not a lot of oak. This village wine has a refreshing minerality, and it’s a great vintage. With the
skate, raisins, and cauliflower, I was looking for some wintry notes, some
structure and richness, but not over the top. The components that drive
these two wines are different—there’s a creamy nature and nuttiness to
the Chardonnay and acidity and a tropical note to the Riesling.
Hornick: I love Riesling, and there were some spicy elements in this
dish, the red chilies, that spoke to me of Riesling. But the dish really
needs acid to cut through the richness, the oil content, and the meatiness
of the skate wing. Both wines have acidity, and I think they’re both great
pairings on different levels—one with the savory elements and one with
the sweetness. Ryan had something that really worked with the texture
and body of the fish, while mine played with many of the components of
the dish.
Marty Davidson: It was almost a tie, but if forced to choose I would pick
the Riesling. I got a little spice in the background for that heat in the dish.
The bitterness of the broccoli rabe also needed the minerality of the wine.
On a hot summer afternoon, though, the apple and creaminess of the
Burgundy would make it a great choice.
Sommelier Journal 25
Roasted skate wing with caulif lower.
Sheehan: Close call, but I preferred the Riesling with the
skate. It was complex and mineral on the nose, and it held its
own with the bold flavors, while the white Burgundy faded
with parts of the dish, such as the broccoli rabe and raisins.
Depending on what was in your mouth, you could reach for
one glass or the other. I preferred the Chardonnay on its own
because of less sweetness.
Belsby: Most Rieslings are too sweet for me, but the sweeter tastes of the dish showed through with this wine. There
were so many things going on in the dish, and with food, you
never know. I’m going to have to drink more Rieslings. But
I preferred the Chassagne-Montrachet because I enjoyed all
the different flavors this wine brought out.
Melinda Davidson: I think with different parts of this complicated dish, each wine worked well. On its own, I loved the
Riesling—it was a perfect balance of sweetness and minerality. Overall, the Chassagne-Montrachet paired consistently
well and picked up a lot of the flavors of the dish.
Second Course
Whitcomb: This is a braised pork belly glazed with Blis maple syrup out of Michigan, aged in bourbon barrels; some
smoked-paprika couscous; and then a slaw that’s made with
endive, carrots, brussels sprouts, and chives. Blis also does
a 9-year-old sherry vinegar that they age in the old maplesyrup-bourbon barrels, so that’s part of the slaw, and then
there’s a little escarole oil for a bit of heat. The pork belly has
been glazed and then charred lightly on the grill.
Fletter: Ironically, we chose two wines from the same place,
but totally different varietals. Reading this menu, I was
thinking about barbecue, so I wanted a New World wine,
fruit-forward style, but not heavy and cloying. Grenache to
me is more like a warm, round Pinot—really ripe red fruits,
not a lot of tannin, very low oak treatment. This one is from
45-year-old vines. I felt like both of our wines kind of straddled the dish. It’s almost like the Northern and Southern
Rhône expressed in the New World. The Grenache was more
of a tart, refreshing, leaner style; the Syrah pushed through
the dish a little longer. The Syrah connected with the pork
26 March 15, 2011
component and the smokiness, but the Grenache picked up
the paprika couscous element.
Hornick: My wine was from young vines—merely 168 years
old. These are the oldest continuously producing Shiraz
vines in the world. I love the depth of soil amid the fruit, and
I wanted something that would have enough to stand up to
all the bold flavors and spices in the dish, but still enough
complexity that the dish wouldn’t make it seem overly modern. There’s not a lot of new wood, very similar to the way you
would treat a Côte-Rôtie. It was cool to see that our thoughts
on the direction of the dish did put us so close together in
terms of geography. I thought Ryan’s wine worked really well
with the spice in the couscous.
Melinda Davidson: The Langmeil brought forward more of
the vinegar tartness in the dish. The Grenache truly met the
pork fat, the smokiness, and the vinegar of the slaw and couscous and perfectly balanced those flavor elements.
Marty Davidson: Both wines were very nice with the dish,
but different. The Grenache is warm and inviting—makes
you feel at home—and the red fruit really comes out with the
food. The Shiraz shows lots of terroir, richness, and a long
finish; a beautiful nose, but not overpowering at all. The oak,
particularly the vanilla, was amazing paired with the pork
belly—pure, silky heaven.
Sheehan: The Shiraz fits my style: spicy, less fruit, but full
tannins—a powerful wine. But the Grenache was a better
combination with the food; it blended perfectly with the fat in
the dish. The Shiraz was tingling and burning in my mouth
with the food; the sherry vinegar almost neutralized it, but I
didn’t get as much of that with the maple syrup, which was
better with the Grenache. Both of these are excellent wines.
Belsby: The vinegar, the maple syrup, and the richness of the
food really brought out this Grenache. Amazing—the dish
changed it. The Shiraz may have been too bold and complex
for this food, but I preferred it on its own.
Third Course
Whitcomb: These are red-wine-braised veal cheeks and then
a veal-cheek rillette that’s been breaded and fried. There’s
Glazed pork belly.
it cuts right through the fat of the veal cheeks with its acidity.
But the Priorat really shows off with this dish. If not for the
mushrooms and the smoked beet, it would be a tie.
Sheehan: I thought it was a tie. These wines are more different than in the previous courses, but equal with the veal
cheek. I couldn’t pick a winner with the food.
Final Tally
Braised veal cheeks.
a roasted cippolini onion, grilled and sautéed chanterelle
mushrooms, and a smoked-beet sauce underneath—smoked
beets cooked down with some of the braising liquid from the
veal cheeks.
Hornick: I love Priorat for a few reasons: the slate soils add a
depth of flavor to the wine that you can’t duplicate anywhere
else in the world. Priorats have this roasted-meat aromatic
with a little barnyard earthiness and good acidity. This one
is a blend of Garnacha, Cariñena, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet. I feel that a lot of people try to overpower veal; this
is a wine with enough finesse to match up without overwhelming it, but with enough acid to cut through the fat
content and the richness. Good beets also speak of the soil
they come from; I always think minerality, and this wine has
that. I wanted something to play with the mushroom component and a little bit of wood for the fried component. But I
also love the Dei from a value perspective, and ’04 is a great
vintage. I really enjoyed the aged complexities that picked up
on the beet smokiness and deeper flavors of the dish.
Fletter: I went to my Italian roots with this pure, focused
Sangiovese from Montepulciano. I love pure varietal expression. It’s got a little age on it, but Sangiovese to me is about
leather, red-cherry fruit with a darker note, like black forest. A
braised veal cheek with the chanterelle mushrooms seemed
like an Italian dish. There are no sweet notes here—it’s more
savory—and this wine has a richness, but less sweet notes
than the prior wines.
Belsby: The Sangiovese was great for drinking by itself, but
it didn’t bring out the flavors in the food as I would have
expected. The Priorat had such rich flavors, and it was even
better with the food—just a great, complex wine.
Melinda Davidson: I liked both wines equally. The Priorat
was well paired to the earthiness and cut the fattiness of
the veal cheek, and it beautifully met the aromatics of the
mushroom.
Marty Davidson: As harmonious as the dish is, when you
break down the components, the wines are really different.
The Vino Nobile is a beautiful expression of Sangiovese, and
Hornick: As I started selecting, I first looked at the food
courses and determined the course that would need the most
attention in terms of a food-and-wine pairing: the pork belly. From there, I matched up the dishes I thought had more
room for interpretation and a greater margin for more diverse
pairings. This allowed me to keep the budget focused on the
most expensive wine and move backward.
Ryan is an amazing sommelier. A lot of our initial
thoughts when first seeing the menu were similar, but as we
tasted the sauces and got a chance to ask Aaron about the
food, we both worked into unique final selections. I think
that the wines I chose worked well. There are so many great
pairings continually waiting to be discovered, and the best
thing we can do is to push the envelope, try creative new
wines with our food, and keep an open mind.
Fletter: It was a great pleasure to be a part of this challenge
with Scott and Aaron, two people I love working with in this
business. I think this challenge really demonstrates all the
diverse directions one can go to accent the numerous flavors
to be unveiled. There are so many different moving parts in
the pairing process that we have to deal with when chasing
down which flavors will or will not be enhanced, whether it’s
lifted notes or muted tones, or supporting and reinforcing
the structural components of the foods. It is refreshing to
see that we are all working toward the same goal, which is
to make the experience of the guest as pleasurable as possible by trying to forecast the flavors awaiting to be deployed
throughout their evening.
Bonus course: Smoked hazelnut tuille with apricot paint, mascarpone
mousse, and balsamic reduction, paired with 2007 Jorge Ordoñez & Co.
Málaga No. 1 Selección Especial.
Sommelier Journal 27