I’ve been to a lot of wine dinners where wine and food are paired and both are enhanced by the pairing. The wine dinner we had at Hans Herzog Winery in Blenheim, New Zealand was an especially surprising and delicious one.
After a 15 minute drive from downtown Blenheim, through the vast vineyards of the region, recognizing some wineries such as Cloudy Bay and Nautilus, we pulled into the small parking lot of the Hans Herzog Bistro and Cellar Door. We walked into the lovely white house, with masses of white roses adorning the porch, past the tasting room to the small dining rooms. The back door opened onto a garden space looking out over the vineyards. The sun was just setting, casting a warm glow over the few people enjoying wine at small tables placed around the garden.
Shown to our seats in the cozy bistro, the server presented the Blind Tasting Menu and we saw there was a three course dinner with wines offered.
The surprise was that each course listed two wines, but no food. This was a reverse blind tasting menu! The idea was that if you trusted the chef and sommelier, they would prepare each course to match the wine you chose.
Since there were two options of wine for each course, we took one of each. The chef asked us about food allergies (I don’t eat bivalves) and we were good to go.
Starter: Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. We each got a completely different vegetable dish. The wines were crisp and bright and we loved the contrast with the dishes.
Main: Pinot Noir and Merlot/Cab Franc blend. We got a sliced beef dish with the Pinot and oxtail with the Merlot/CF. These dishes were rich and hearty, and the wines matched well.
Dessert: One Wine: Riesling Botrytris; Two Completely different desserts: A Gorgonzola cheese plate (with bread, nuts and fruit accompaniments), and a Baba au Rhum cake with kiwifruit. The sweet wine went amazingly well with each dessert.
