Sylvia Sterling Salmon with Pinot Noir (Sokol Blosser 2013)

Traveling to Oregon for a friend’s reunion was something I looked forward to for the better part of a year. A group of us attended Stanford in the mid- 90’s and for the most part we ended up on the West Coast. I relocated to Boston and decided to rent a house for a week outside of Portland; making a vacation out of it. I invited six friends and their plus ones to my rental for a dinner party.

 

	Sylvia Sterling is Throwing a Dinner-Party
	Be There

 

	7pm Friday April 3
	Wine, Food & Fun
	Casual

Details were included in an enclosure. I tallied up six positive RSVP’s; eight people in total as some folks were attending stag. Now my job was to figure out the menu. I asked if anyone had dietary restrictions and no one raised their hand. As I had done in college when I needed advice, I called my friend Diane after I arrived in Oregon.

“Nice digs Sylvia.” Diane came in and gave me a hug. “Lake view and a deck. We’re going to have an amazing celebration.” She kicked back on a lounge chair. “What are you serving?”

“Local is always a good bet so I was thinking salmon. From my catering days, I know of a recipe, which includes wild mushrooms and lentils. On my last visit to see you we went wine tasting and I had a great taste of a 2013 Sokol Blosser.”

“How the hell do remember that. We had many great tastes; so many in fact that we called Jeremy halfway through to be our chauffeur.”

“I wrote it down and although red usually doesn’t pair well with seafood, this will be delightful. Salmon is rich, oily; and slightly sweet so I it’ll hold up.”

“I trust you and I know of a Friday farmer’s market where we can get our hands on some local chanterelles.”

“I already called ahead and found a few bottles of the pinot, just point me to the place for the freshest local salmon filets. Make sure it jumped directly out of the Columbia River into the market.”

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The day was an idyllic 70* and the lake was glasslike. Overhead heaters hung from the out-door rafters in case the temperature dipped when the sun went down. The guests arrived by seven-thirty and appetizers were scattered on tables around the deck. The options included an assortment of canapes and pate. Drinks varied from beer to wine and mixed cocktails. After the initial excitement wore, off and all necessary introductions were made, I nudged Diane.

“Jeremy is mingling with the others; will you help me in the kitchen?” I asked.

“I’m right behind you Sylvia,” Diane whispered. “You didn’t tell me Bruce Patton was coming?”

“I had no choice. He’s dating Val.”

“Shit – poor Val.” Diane smirked.

The salmon was fresh so I was careful not to overcook it. I portioned it into ten filets and placed it in the oven at a medium broil. The fish didn’t need much besides a few pads of butter, fresh dill and a squeeze of lemon. I cooked it on each side for seven minutes. I managed to pop out on the deck occasionally to visit with my guests. There was nothing worse than a disappearing host was. As the fish did its thing, I made a bed of sautéed wild mushrooms and lentils.

Diane opened four bottles of wine from the case that I bought. I didn’t need a dozen bottles but more was better than less. I placed the salmon over the lentils and dinner was ready. I was confident in my pairing of Salmon with pinot noir and hoped my guests agreed.

“I’m just going to pass the platter. We’ve eaten off paper plates with each other in the past so I don’t see the need to be too formal.” I was standing behind Bruce Patton so he tasted the wine as I explained my choice. “Pairing seafood with a red would have been frowned upon 20 years ago but now thank God we have good pinot noir. Stuff that we can actually afford.”

I barely started speaking when Bruce interrupted. “Excellent pinot noir Sylvia but of course you know that. I think serving red wine with fish is wrong. I don’t know by whom or where the trend started but I’m a purist. A buttery chardonnay would go fabulous with salmon. It would be a perfect complement to the rich fish.”

“Allow me to finish why this is the perfect pairing with salmon. Pinot noir is not a big red, it’s young and fruity. The tannin is low so you avoid any metallic flavor, which can take away from the essence of the fish. The acid in this pinot noir is almost like adding a splash of citrus on the fish. They’re both local to this region and I thought they should be celebrated together.”

“We agree to disagree. I’ll stick with my gin and tonic from earlier,” Bruce sniveled.

Val turned red with embarrassment that Bruce was her date. Not a single person besides Bruce complained about the wine. Eight bottles of wine were finished that night and I considered my dinner party a success.