Washington White Wine Whimsies

Dropping down a progress report on our Wonderful Washington Wine Pairing party to announce the Washington white wine selections and confirmed paired dishes.  This covers the first three courses of the six-course menu. 

While there is an abundance of gorgeous red wines from the various regions of Washington, whites are a lesser focus. Not as many options and many say (according to various articles I perused) it is hard to find as good a quality per dollar as a CA white. Hm, I do love a challenge.

As seafood is core Washington flavor, so it is a must for the menu. Therefore, we hunted down flavorful Washington white wines that paired excellently with my recipe experiments. Some of which I’m still tweaking.

Taming of the Apple

I mentioned earlier that I was working on a chilled soup for the first course. I honed in on an Apple Gazpacho – very savory, not sweet version that rallies around the iconic Washington fruit.  What I really like about this dish is its layers of flavor. You get a bright pop of flavor at first taste.  Then more layers unfurl, such as toasted almonds, as it lingers through the aftertaste.

Quite frankly, many Washington white wine options could not stand up in the first round flavor punch. They fell over, wimpy and watery. I tried some variations with fennel, curry, yogurt, less garlic.  I was considering moving away from this delightful dish to something far more subdued. Luckily, we were introduced to the L’Ecole Semillon that had enough flavor of its own to marry this feisty dish.

Mushroom Mayhem

Crab was to be the focus of the second dish. It should be in season and I love fresh crab.  Fresh crab, fresh real crab.

I don’t adore mushrooms but find them well suited for gluten-free appetizer creations.  Crab stuffed mushrooms sounded like a good idea – but all my creations so far have not been what I want.

First, I made a purchasing error of faux crab. Didn’t look close enough at the ingredient label (look closely my friends, they try to trick you!).  Then I tried canned crab just for some quick tests. Watery and flavorless. Nope, not wasting anymore of my time on that junk.

The delicate sweet notes of crab are to be the star! Not some second-rate stand in. But all I’ve been getting is chewy mushroom and strong parmesan cheese flavor.  Also, most batches I’ve baked look like the Wicked Witch of the West after hydration therapy.   I know there are tricks to unsogging this dish – but if the flavor isn’t working as well…

 My conclusion is that a baked stuffed mushroom isn’t the answer. Instead, I will create a zingy crab salad atop a fresh mushroom cap. Chunks of fresh crab will be the star, by golly. And we found a lovely co-star in a Chateau Ste Michelle Horse Heaven Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.

Saffron Soulmate

Clams are on the menu for the third course.  I sought to marry it with elements from a dish I adore, a seafood paella with the delicate, smoky floral flavoring of saffron. Plus, a bit of cream to add velvety lushness to the sauce.    

My mother was at first dubious of what I was describing, that saffron and seafood were indeed soulmates. To compare,  I also made a more traditional lemon garlic sauce with tarragon.  After testing with a couple of Washington rieslings, she was won over on the saffron.  The riesling that deliciously paired was Tagaris Riesling from Columbia Valley.

Darby, Darby, Darby!

My mother and I visited the Darby Winery tasting room in Woodinville a couple weekends ago, seeking out their Purple Haze red blend.  I made a special note to try to find their Purple Haze after enjoying a glass several month ago at Epulo. But now it is in short supply, no longer available in most retail (there may be some stray bottles around). Now only club members can order this particular vintage (until they are completely out). While there, we did a tasting flight of their other wines. After all, we came all that way.

Though they have a strong focus on red, they did happen to have a lovely Washington white wine as the starter, a 2021 Roussanne from Stillwater Creek Vineyard Columbia Valley. We liked it so much we bought several bottles to consider it for the first course.  In the end, the L’Ecole was a better pairing. But, Roussanne is a rather nice white to enjoy unpaired.

This was as well and good, because we already earmarked Darby for two red courses (I will speak to that in a later update). So that would have been three wines out of six from the same winery (a bit too much favoritism). We may bring some bottles of the Roussanne just for fun, it is a party after all.