Wednesday, November 24, 2010

What wine goes with...No. 3.

...duck? I love duck. If I am eating out at a restaurant and duck is on the menu you can be sure that that is what I am going to order. I adore the stuff, but I would never cook it for myself.
Last week I went to a dinner at which duck was being served as the main course - yum! The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) was being paired with two wines: Cabernet sauvignon and Petit verdot - double yum! The Cabernets on offer were a little too hardy for the beautifully rare-cooked bird, but the PVs proved to be a much better pairing. Very rarely bottled as a stand alone variety there were, surprisingly, about half a dozen California PVs on offer. Most notable amongst them was a tasty offering from Smith Wooton which paired extremely well with the fabulous fowl.
I thoroughly enjoyed my duck dinner, and about half of Vinomaker's also.

13 comments:

Affer said...

Duck is a marvellous meat, in't it? On a trip to post-Red, pre-EC Poland many years ago,it was the only thing on the menus - well, that and potatoes. It came in several forms, from boiled to burgered. Which mostly it was!

Lord Roby said...

Vinogirl.How strange.I took the plunge and roasted a whole East Anglian Duck(Ipswichus Norwichus) last Sunday.After reading Hugh F-W's do's and don't I didn't make a bad fist of it.Only thing was, there was about as much meat on the breast as a common or garden Jenny Wren! As for wine,the Roby family budget didn't spread that far.It's a hard life in Two Dogs!
Oh! And did I ever tell you the latin name for Wren is Troglodyte; because it forages mostly at low level in undergrowth.Any suggestions what would best accompany Roast Troglodyte?
P.S, Happy Thanksgiving...

Thomas said...

Lord Roby,

For that troglodyte, try a very earthy, full throttle terroir wine--preferably one that smells a little like what the cow's leave behind.

Vinogirl,

Next on vinofiction: duck!

Like you, if duck is on the menu; I'm in, unless it's competing with Maryland soft shell blue crab.

Vinogirl said...

Affer: As in, when it's brown it's done, when it's black it's burgered?

LR: A very tiny glass of Petite Sirah maybe?

Thomas: So, are you going to feature crab in the future?

Thud said...

Duck = tai pan on sundays...no wine but lots of chinese tea

Lord Roby said...

Thomas and Vinogirl.I was thinking of a gill or two of Gewurtztraminer,if only because it sounds equally malevolent.

Vinogirl said...

Thud: Yum, crispy duck in the Tai Pan :)

LR: A gill or two?

Thomas said...

LR,

Gill?

A British colloquial with which I am unfamiliar? Unless you meant one of the two definitions that I know of the word, and then I am lost completely...but not for the first nor last time, to be sure.

Lord Roby said...

Thomas,
A 'Gill' is strange in that it is the same in the US system as it is in the UK(avoirdupois).It is exactly a quarter of a pint.However,since your pint is smaller than ours; we get 142 mls and you lot only get 118 mls.And you call yourselves drinkers.Pah!

Do Bianchi said...

one of the most memorable meals of our lives was Pinot Noir and duck, 91 De Montille Volnay with duck and civet... My word verification is "reduck"! Hilarious!

Thomas said...

LR,

Oh, that gill.

I had forgotten all about the term, which I don't recall ever hearing in a public house on this side of the pond--and it should be used to identify a glass of wine: 4 ounces here 5 ounces over there.

Do Bianchi,

Ever have braisee duck? Braisee is my verification word.

Who says Google doesn't read our every utterance?

Do Bianchi said...

@Thomas I have had duck braisée but Italian style.

And yes, Google, our own personal Orwell!

Happy holiday to you and yours!

Vinogirl said...

Stop it you two...you are making me hungry!