Complete Wine Pairing Menus

A tasting menu designed by a skilled chef is a thing of beauty. Then to have each course in that dinner paired with several ounces of lovely wine is a true coup de grace.

I’d like to give you serval of my wine tasting menus, some focused more on seasonality, and some more on cooking styles themselves. At the risk of this article turning into a book, I won’t get into exact recipes at this time, or even why specific wines were chosen, mostly I’d like to offer a larger picture of what balanced wine pairing menus can look like.

I like to start with a charcuterie board, a salad, amous bouche, a small entree, and a dessert. Depending on your wine selection, and your ability to cost food, a ticket for these general 5 courses and 3oz. pours can easily deliver $100. If you can even sell 10 tickets your looking at a nice profit for a light night of cooking. That being said with enough hands, the right venue, and planning, its perfectly possible to sell over 100 tickets for a very lucrative evening. The largest wine pairing menu I took part in was for 200 people at $150 a seat. Needless to say the other two chefs and I were happy to spend hours doing the unspeakable mountain of dishes for the $30,000 we brought it that night.

Menu 1

Cheese Board

Charcuterie, cheese Varieties, olives, marcona almonds, dried cherries, toast points, barely cured egg yolk. Paired with Chardonnay.

Bacon and Apple Salad

Battered green apple, bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles, hazelnuts, and mixed greens served with a raspberry vinegarette. Paired with Reisling.

Aromatic Lamb Meatballs

Served with hummus, orzo, goddess sauce and toasted pine nuts. Paired with Syrah Blend

Grilled Peach Panzanella

Brined and then buttermilk marinated chicken grilled and served with grilled peaches, italian herbs, cucumber, onion, oil, baguette, and greens. Paired with Sauvignon Blanc

No Bake Cheesecake

Vanilla shortbread cookies with whipped marscarpone, immaserated strawberries, raspberry coolie, and lemon saffron honey. Paired with a Dry Rose.

Menu 2

Cheese Board

Charcuterie, cheese varieties, olives, marcona almonds, dried cherries, toast points, barely cured egg yolk. Paired with Chardonnay.

Duck Poppers

Bite sized roasted duck breast bacon wrapped with cream cheese served with a chipotle razzberry sauce. Paired with Pinot Noir

Watermelon Salad

Watermelon, tomato, and cucumber in a broken red wine vinegarette with bermuda onion, corriender, feta, and torn mint. Paired with a Provencal Rose.

Char Siu Pork

Barbequed grilled pork tenderloin served with a sweet corn gravy, chili pickled red cabbage, and fried green tomatoes. Paired with Merlot.

Chocolate Hazelnut Po de creme

Silky custard served with almond biscotti, roasted filberts, a pinch af chili powder, freshly whipped cream, a drizzle of olive oil. Paired with Port.

Menu 3

Cheese Board

Charcuttesie, cheese varieties, olives, Marcona almonds, dried cherries, toast points, and a barely cured egg yolk. Paired with Chardonnay.

Blackberry Salad

Lightly pickled blackberries with miked greens, candied pecans, red radishes, goat cheese, bermuda onion with a blackberry vinegarette. Paired with Reisling.

Bacon Poached Oysters

Fresh oysters poached in bacon jus. Served over a corn succotash with a spicy hollandaise. Paired with Syrah Blend.

Petite Ribeye

Pan seared ribeye with potato croquette, confit tomatoes and a caramalized onion gastrique. Paired with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Rich chocolate cake served with yogurt frosting, immaserated blueberries, blueberry coolie, and a chocolate no bake cookie. Paired with a Port.

I hope you enjoyed this food for thought and I’ll look forward to writing out specific recipes to correlate. Have fun cooking!