The Perfect Pairing begins with Great Company

There are many things that make a ‘great pairing’ or a ‘great bottle of wine’, but none really better (in my opinion) than the company of great friends or family to enjoy it with.
Last nite, at one of my many Cooks of Crocus Hill Classes – undoubtedly Twin Cities Best Wine Classes – I finally met my match with a tricky group of friends and family that collaborated to make this class, just a couple of days before my birthday, a class I would never forget.  Trying to throw me off guard with my  6yr old school photo that had been ‘discreetly’ placed at the front of class, everyone seemed to be in on the secret except for me!  As three family members entered the class trying to find a seat without being noticed, I jumped to greet them while introducing them to our class of 35 students.  While it had been almost 20yrs since our last meeting, the reunion was quite emotional.  With a smile plastered across my face for an entire 3 hours, they ended up convincing Cooks to keep the 30 year old picture in front of the class for the entire class period.
With a phenomenal class and outstanding participants (as always!), the pairings yes were wonderful (if I don’t say so myself).  With my right hand chef, Mike Shannon, at the helm of the grill as I paired up a worldly selection of Cabernets to everything ‘Steak and Cabernet’, the class “oohhed and ahhhed” at the lovely foods and wines in front of them.  Starting out with a fat Sonoma Cab, thru the works of a soft, yet earthy Italian Cab blend, a minty New Zealand blend, a sizzlin’ and spicy Chilean, a gamey South African to a 1993 Margaux Bordeaux (delish!!), the pairings seem to fit perfectly with every bite taken.
Yes, the wines were killer and the food, sensational…but at the end of the day, pairings are and should be, what you make of them.  While most would say you have to have just the right ingredients to make THE perfect pairings, mine have always come from experience.  Because wine is already 90% experience, whether it was a moment, or a sip that you savored or the conversation that was made over a glass – it is the company that you keep, the experience that you create and those that you share it with that make the wine and the pairings spectacular.  With that said, my Pairings last nite were incomparable.  With a fabulous crowd to celebrate with and my family in the audience to share it all with – the nite was a perfect pairing of wonderful friends old and new and a perfect family surprise.
Cheers to those who made my evening very special and for creating that Perfect Pairing!  Salut.