In wake of Couloir closing down soon for the off season, I took a gondola ride up the mountain to talk wine and food with the sommelier and executive chef, and to get their take on what constitutes fall cuisine. And more importantly, what to pair with my fall foods.
Some characteristics that come to mind when we think of fall foods are warm, spicy, creamy and hearty. Couloir incorporates all these features into their menu, making sure they complement one another. Not only is it important for all the foods to agree, wine selection for the meal is also a crucial component when creating a menu. When tasting and deciding which type of wine to pair with a certain dish, Mike Calla, Couloir’s sommelier, said finding a happy medium is the ultimate goal.
“You want the flavors to balance each other out, not too sweet, not too savory,” Calla said.
With entrees such as house-smoked Idaho Bison with a medley of barley, sage and blackberries and grilled Colorado lamb loin with a side of turnip, organic greens and mint-tomato chutney on Couloir’s menu, Calla prefers to pair old world wines from French, Italian and Spanish regions as opposed to new world wines from California with these hearty dishes.
Calla prefers the old world wines because they are more delicate, elegant and posses finesse, whereas the new world wines are too overpowering and focus more on the alcohol content than the taste-quality of the wine, he said.
For the Idaho bison entrée, Calla has carefully selected a 2010 Moillard Nuits-Saint-Georges pinot noir. The light, dry, rose undertones of the pinot noir complement the hearty weight of the bison nicely and round out the dish.
Calla makes an exception to his old-world-rule when pairing a new world wine with the grilled Colorado lamb loin. He has selected a 2011 Joseph Phelps pinot noir from the Sonoma Coast to pair with this full-flavored dish.
“Joseph Phelps is a famous producer of cabernet, so you can’t go wrong with any of his reds,” Calla said.
When Wes Hamilton, executive chef, is creating the restaurant’s menu, he likes to keep the fall features consistent, integrating starchy, hearty, protein-based braised options in all his dishes, even in the soups and desserts. For this winter, Hamilton plans to create a buffalo chili to serve at lunch and a butternut squash pureed soup garnished with crème fresh and pumpkin seeds to serve at dinner. In terms of dessert, Hamilton likes to go heavy on the warming spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg and some ginger to balance all the strong flavors. He also likes to incorporate certain fruits, such as pears, apples and even some tropical fruits.
“My intention when creating this upcoming fall/winter menu is to mix all the warming elements and be more creative than conceptual,” Hamilton says.
With the soup, Calla would pair Lucien Albrecht “Cuvée Cecile”, pinot gris, Alsace ’10, which he describes as a wine with rich, ripe apple and peach flavors, rose petal aromatics and a dry elegant finish.
And for dessert, a Royal Tokaji, 5 Puttonyos Aszu, Hungary ’08, a sweet, concentrated wine made from botrytis infected grapes, which he said shows rich, complex notes of honey and apricot.
Calla and Hamilton work closely together to create the perfect menu, pairing just the right wine with just the right dish to include all the favorite fall features. Calla prefers to pair milder old world wines with the creamy soups and sweet desserts that Hamilton prepares. The wines offered at Couloir may or may not be found around town at the liquor stores, but you can definitely find similar wines from the same region as Couloir’s wines.
“The Wine Loft has a great selection of wines, but Dornan’s has the best wine store in town,” Calla said. “They have the finest selection of Burgundys in Jackson; that’s where I shop to find the most suitable wine to drink when cooking at home.”
Couloir may be closing for the off season, but they will open back up in mid-December with a new, fresh winter menu that is sure to excite the palette and keep you full and warm to weather the cold and the snow.
