One of our very favorite restaurants when we lived in NY, was David Chang’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar. The first time we went was in 2011 for a friend’s birthday not too long after we’d moved to the city. We’d pre-ordered their Bo Ssäm for the event and what a feast it was! It continues to be one of my very favorite food memories. 

Photos from our first Bo Ssåm at Momofuku Ssäm Bar, plus a much younger Greg with our friends Glenn, Rob, and Adam. We were there celebrating Glenn's birthday.

The Bo Ssäm features a pork shoulder that we cure overnight, then slow roast for 6–8 hours before glazing with brown sugar and roasting juices. It comes with a dozen oysters, white rice, Bibb lettuce, Korean-style barbecue sauce, kimchi, and ginger scallion sauce. In the spirit of “ssäm,” which is Korean for “enclosed” or “wrapped,” we encourage guests to make wraps with the pork and condiments, or eat as they please. (Available for parties of 6–10 guests)

I loved the amazing mix of flavors and playing around with the different sauces. The oysters were also a surprise. They seemed like they shouldn't have worked in the mix, but their brininess cut the fatty richness of the pork in a beautiful way.  The whole spread was unbelievably good. What I’ve now discovered is that it’s also unbelievably easy to make! 

 
After over two months of being quite strict about social distancing due to Coronavirus, Greg and I decided it was time to start figuring out our “quaranteam” or social bubble, whatever you want to call it. Our friends Lucy and Drew were the first additions, given we’d all been similarly strict and we all love preparing a good feast together. (Regular readers will recognize them from our many trips to the Culinary Cabin, and you’ll be seeing more of them since they’re part of the team now.)

A Bo Ssäm feast seemed like an excellent group project to celebrate reducing isolation! We used the version of the recipe up at NYT Cooking. That’s behind a paywall, but luckily the recipe is up at various different sites including Epicurious and Taste. The recipe is also in the Momofuku cookbook, which I definitely recommend. I prepped and babysat the pork while it cooked, Drew shucked and prepped the oysters (I love oysters, but I hate shucking them!), the guys and I divvied up the sides and fixings, and Lucy made dessert. 



The pork preparation could not be simpler. The curing and cooking were both super easy, it just all requires time, although it doesn’t require a lot of your attention through most of the process. We stuck to the recipe pretty faithfully, although we cut the quantity in half – I’d say even that made more than 6 servings. Shucking oysters aside, this has to be one of the easiest, most showstopping ways to feed a crowd and it packs a flavor punch. 


I realize we’ve been on a slow-cooked pork kick around here, as two piggy posts have landed next to each other. But hey, it’s so freak’n good!!!
 

Riesling Party

An added bonus of a dinner with friends is that you get to open multiple bottles of wine, and I love to mix and match to see what works best. The mix of spicy, sweet, fatty, and salty flavors here screamed out for Riesling to me. Since several bottles would inevitably be required, I figured, why not have a comparative riesling party?!

I’ve mentioned that Riesling is my favorite white grape, and a big part of that is its ability to make such a wide range of wine styles –– sparkling, bone dry, and every level of sweetness to full-on dessert wines. Moreover, the incredible range of flavors it’s able to produce makes it easy to pair with a wide range of cuisines. It also tends to be high in acidity, which is another plus when it comes to pairing it with food. This is also a very aromatic grape, that will often jump out of the glass with a whole kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors that can include everything from citrus, stone fruits, apples, pineapple, stones, honeysuckle, jasmine, ginger, and of course the petrol notes that it’s often known for.

I decided to open bottles from the Finger Lakes in New York (the subject of this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend discussion), Alsace in France, and the Nahe region of Germany. All three wines are from standard-bearers in their respective regions, and all were in a similar price range. In a way, this line-up also reflects the progression of my relationship with this grape. 

All wines today were purchased via Wine.com.

 

Dr. Konstantin Frank Semi-Dry Riesling 2016

My appreciation of Riesling started with a trip to the Finger Lakes in New York. Funny enough, this trip was just a few months after that Bo Ssäm at Ssäm Bar. We headed up to Seneca Lake for a party celebrating the wedding of two friends (the bride is from the area). We tacked on a couple of days to explore the wine region – I actually wrote about the experience here. (Wow! I'm realizing that trip was exactly 9 years and one day ago! Where does the time ago?)

We were delighted with the QPR of the wines of the region in general and we learned a ton. The trip really opened my eyes to the grape’s possibilities. The region makes its Rieslings in a full range of styles from dry to sweet, which quickly undid me of the notion that Riesling equals sweet. (This was before I’d started studying wine.) I also found that often a little a bit of sweetness was not a bad thing, as a touch of residual sugar often helps balance out the grapes searing acidity on the palate.

One winery I always wished we’d been able to visit is Dr. Konstantin Frank on Keuka Lake, as it’s a key benchmark winery of the region. There has been a wine industry in the Finger Lakes since the 1800s, however, native species like Concord grapes were the norm for the majority of that time. It gets REALLY cold in the Finger Lakes and their growing season is very short. It’s at the upper latitudes of where it’s possible to grow wine grapes and has a climate very similar to many of Germany’s wine regions. The lakes themselves help moderate temperatures and without them, grape growing would be impossible. Nonetheless, it proved quite tricky to coax Vitis vinifera, the species to which all of our beloved wine grapes belong, to grow here.

That all changed thanks to Dr. Frank. A professor of plant sciences who held a Ph.D. in viticulture, Dr. Frank arrived in the US in 1951 and soon took a position at Cornell University. He had experience working with cold climate grapes and became convinced that the real problem was that they weren’t working with the proper rootstocks for the conditions of the region. He eventually found a collaborator in  Charles Fournier, a French Champagne maker and president of nearby Gold Seal Vineyards. Their work made a difference and now the region is well-known for its fine wines. Dr. Frank founded his own winery in 1962, just over a decade after his arrival in the US, and it continues to be one of the benchmark wineries of the region.

We opened the Dr. Konstantin Frank Semi-Dry Riesling 2016 for our Bo Ssäm. I chose the semi-dry version because I thought a little residual sugar would help match the sweet and spicy components in our meal. It worked out great! It actually proved the pairing winner. Even Lucy, who is not a fan of off-dry wines in general, had to give it to this wine as the best match.

For me, this wine stylistically fell between the other two examples. It had a little more residual sugar and was fruitier than our wine from Alsace, which was key for the reason mentioned above, but it also had a more robust structure than the version Germany, which helped it stand up to the robust textures and flavors of the food. Admittedly, it was less complex than the other two wines, but it made the best pairing.

Tasting Notes: Pear, peaches, tangerine skin, ginger, and honeysuckle. It finished with lots of minerality, and showed the most petrol character of the three wines. Fresh acidity helps to keep the sweetness balanced.

Geeky Details
(From the tech sheet.)

Winemaking: The fruit was picked in the early morning to retain freshness and fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks. The fermentation was stopped before dryness to preserve the fruity character of this wine.
Additional paring suggestions:  Orange chicken, paella, gumbo, turkey with cranberry sauce.
Alcohol: 11.5%,
Acidity: 0.73 g/100mL
pH: 3.10
Sugar: 2.5%
Price: $19

Trimbach Riesling Alsace 2017

This is one of the wines that really cinched my love for  Riesling. I’m not certain, but I’m guessing I first tried Alsace’s take on this grape during my CMS Somm course. I started buying this bottle of Trimbach regularly because I always found it to be excellent at the price point. I’ve continued buying it ever since.

Alsace is generally known for a dry style of Riesling, although wines at all sweetness levels exist. Trimbach’s wine are known for being particularly steely. I went into depth on Alsace and it’s wines here, so I’ll invite you to check out that post for background on the region. It also happens to include a previous vintage of this wine with additional details.

The Trimbach Riesling Alsace 2017 was the crowd favorite when sipped on its own, but it did not work with the food. It wasn’t bad with the oysters, but it clashed with the pork. It was just way too dry for the sweeter components in the meal.

Tasting Notes: Stony minerals galore. Grapefruit, white peach, green apples, and white flowers. Super steely with lots of acidity. It was definitely the driest wine of the group and had the most minerality.

Geeky Details
(From the tech sheet.)
Winemaking: The grapes are normally harvested in late October and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and concrete vats. There is no secondary malolactic fermentation in order to maintain as much natural acidity as possible.
Alcohol: 12.5%
Residual Sugar:  2.7 g/L
Price: $20 on sale. (I usually see this for around $24-$25.)


The Trimbach might not have worked with the Bo Ssäm, but here's another recent pairing where it did work. 

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@trimbach was one of the #rieslings that made it my favorite white grape. I still regularly come back to their wine. We recently enjoyed a bottle w #takeout from #khanapeena. #takeouttuesday . . . . . #winegeek #winenerd #corkdork #winelover #winepairing #drinkwine #WTnF #zipkick #foodandwine #foodietribe #winelife #theculinarylens #quarantineandcill #stayhome #riesling #eattheworld #sipgloacal #comfortfood #nomnom #indianfood #supportlocalrestaurants #supportlocalbusiness #saag #alsace

A post shared by Nicole Ruiz Hudson, DipWSET (@nibblinggypsy) on May 26, 2020 at 11:38pm PDT

 

Dönnhoff Estate Riesling Nahe 2018

It took me a little longer to understand and appreciate German Rieslings. While the are variations by region, the German style of Riesling tends to more ethereal, and they indeed escaped me for a while, like I couldn’t quite pin them down.  It’s also hard to get a handle on all of the classifications. (And we are not going to get into them today!) Now I love them, drink them regularly, and I’ve come to appreciate the precision of their system.

Nahe is a smaller region in Germany, and not as well known, perhaps because it’s flanked by the two more famous regions of Mosel and Rheingau. The Dönnhoff family has been in the area for over 200 years. They slowly grew from a modest farm to a full wine estate over time, and are now in their 4th generation. 

The Dönnhoff Estate Riesling Nahe 2018 is labeled as dry, but I got a little bit of residual sugar, which rounded it out and helped it work well with the food. We all agreed that it was a close second in terms of pairings. Drew actually preferred this wine with the oysters.

Tasting Notes: Flowers blossoms with white peach, pears, and light hints of spice. It was the most delicate of the three wines with the lightest body, but it still had lots of refreshing acidity.

Geeky Details
(From the tech sheet here and here.)

Soil:The vines grow in stony, weathered volcanic soils of porphyry and melaphyr in particular, with certain amounts of slate and quartzite.
Winemaking: Fermentations occur in a combination of stainless & used large oak
Age of vines:15 - 30 years
Alcohol: 11.5%
Price: $24

This was such a fun feast! And I love any excuse to pop open a bunch of Rieslings. Plus, now that I know how easy it is to make a Bo Ssäm, I will definitely be doing it again!

Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm is “Exploring the Wines of New York’s Finger Lakes Region.”

Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla is pairing “Bibimbap with Garden Banchan + Forge Cellars Classique Riesling 2017.”

Lori at Dracaena Wines is “Delving Into the History of the Finger Lakes with John Wagner.”

David at Cooking Chat is exploring “Finger Lakes Wine Paired with Everyday Favorites.”

Cindy at Grape Experiences shares “An Impressive New York Treasure: the Finger Lakes Wine Region.”

Teri at Our Good Life pairs “Zero Degree Riesling with Pan Seared Scallops over Cheesy Grits.”

Jeff at Food Wine Click! suggests “New York Finger Lakes – I Hope You Like Riesling!”

Jill at L’OCCASION offers “New York Finger Lakes: Wine For Summer Pairings.”

Pinny at Chinese Food and Wine Pairings shares “New York Finger Lakes Wines – Lonesome Stony Rose and Fox Run Rieslings Paired with Quick-Prepped Seafood.”

Jane at Always Ravenous offers “Picnic Fare Paired with Finger Lake Wines.”

Rupal at Syrah Queen discusses “The Charm Of New York Finger Lakes Rieslings.”

Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles is pairing “Finger Lake Riesling and Alsatian Salmon.”

Gwendolyn at Wine Predator offers two posts: “Two Riesling from the Finger Lakes Paired with a Potluck” and “#RoseAllDay for #RoseDay: 3 from New York’s Finger Lakes.”

Susannah at Avvinare shares “Delightful wines from the Finger Lakes.”

Jennifer at Vino Travels takes a look at “Wines from Around Upstate New York’s Finger Lakes Wine Region.”

Finally, Linda at My Full Wine Glass is sharing two posts: “Three Takes on Finger Lakes NY Cabernet Franc Rosé” and “Two Pairs of NY Finger Lakes Riesling – a Winning Hand.”

Additional sources used for this post:
Vinous.com: Finger Lakes Rising 
Wine-Searcher.com
Winefolly.com: The Taster’s Guide to Riesling Wine 


This post contains affiliate links, including the following Amazon Associate links, from which I might receive a commission at no cost to you.

Back in May of 2018, I had the chance to visit Gamble Family Wines in Oakville, Napa Valley. My friend Laura accompanied me, and we had the chance to tour the winery and chat with Tom Gamble about his winery, the history of Napa Valley, and the role his family has played in the unfolding of that history. My friend Laura accompanied me on the visit, which then turned into two, because we were so engrossed in the conversation and their story. 


The Gamble family has been involved in agriculture in Napa since 1916, first in cattle ranching and farming other crops. Tom Gamble shifted his focus to commercial grape-growing, purchasing his first vineyards with partners in 1981 at the age of 20. He grew and sold grapes for twenty years after that point. Over this time he also increased his vineyard holdings. Then in 2005, he finally established Gamble Family Vineyards and began building his winery a few years later in 2012. The land which it’s built includes an ancestral farmhouse, barns, and water tower, which Tom and his wife, Colette, are devoted to maintaining. Incidentally, Colette’s family has also been in the valley since the 1870’s.

Tome with his dog Koa

During our visit and conversation, we got a sense of his sincere respect for the land and desire to care for it to the best of his abilities. He farms sustainably and conscientiously, and his winery and vineyards are certified Napa Green and certified by Fish Friendly Farming. I got the sense that he’s always looking for ways to improve his practices at all levels from methods of farming, to ways of reusing and prolonging the life of barrels, and ways of reducing energy usage across all aspects of the operation.



An activist spirit runs through the family. Tom’s mom, Mary Ann McGuire, had a big role to play in the way the valley developed. Mary Ann was a key participant in establishing the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve, an ordinance that protects vineyards from commercial development and ensures that the land is used strictly for agricultural purposes. We’ll dive further into this in an upcoming post soon, but Laura and I had the chance to speak with her at length and were really inspired by her story. 




After our visit, Tom sent us home with a few bottles of his wine.  Later in the fall, I hosted a Friendsgiving dinner for a few friends during which we opened the wines and enjoyed them with a potluck dinner. I made a Lamb Roast with Roasted Sweet Peppers and my friends all brought various sides.

Crostini with kale and goat cheese as an app.

Caprese Salad

Squash with cheese, hazelnuts, and pomegranate syrup

Turnips braised in apple cider vinegar.

Mushrooms suatéed with onions and sesame.

Roasted potatoes

Lemon tart for dessert

The lamb dish was inspired by a recipe in Perfect Pairings by another son-mother duo, Evan Goldstein and Joyce Goldstein. Evan Goldstein is a Master Sommelier and his mother, Joyce, is a noted chef and cookbook author. Perfect Pairings is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to better understand food and wine pairings. The book walks you through different grape varieties, their different expressions, and recommendations for how to pair them along with suggested pairings. This book focuses on relatively familiar grape varieties, while the follow-up, Daring Pairings, moves beyond these to explore lesser-known grape varieties. I highly recommend both books. 


Perfect Pairings recommends a recipe for Spanish Lamb Ragout with Roasted Sweet Peppers as a match for rich, fruit-forward, New World-style Cabernet Sauvignons. I decided to give it a try alongside several of Gamble’s wines. Rather than cutting up the meat in advance and cooking it in batches, as is called for in the recipe, I decided to adapt the recipe for a roast preparation. I thought this worked out really well and the dish did pair well with all of the Cabernets.

Good times with friends.

My friend, Laura, and partner in crimefor these tastings.

Some time has passed since this dinner. Things got busy, as they tend to do, and then 2019 in general just flew by and got away from me. I’m now writing this as the COVID-19 is sweeping through our country, and I’m thankful for memories like this of times spent with friends. At present we’re in the midst of social distancing and under a shelter in place order in the Bay Area, but I will look forward to hosting gatherings like these once again on the other side of this pandemic. In the meantime, let’s be grateful for the wonderful people in our lives and find new ways to connect as we wait out this difficult period. For example, friends and I have been having online happy hours. We can still enjoy a glass of wine together, even while apart. For those at home with loved ones, let’s make the most of this time by coming together at the table with those that are near us. Some of these wines are also on the pricier side, but I say now is the time to open those baller bottles. If not now, when?!

Stay well friends!

THE WINES

Winemaking details are taken from the tech sheets. 

Sauvignon Blanc Gamble Vineyard Yountville 2017

There were notes of fresh lime, kiwi, green apple and green melon, along with a light grassy, herbal note. A nice streak of minerality ran throughout, with a touch of cream on the mid-palate. Overall, it was an elegant Sauv Blanc with an attractive, aromatic nose and a crisp finish.

Winemaking: 13% new French and Hungarian oak. The wine was cellared 76% in barrel on the lees for six months, with the remaining 24% in stainless steel on the lees for six months.
Alcohol: 13.1%
Avg Price: $25

Pairings: Not surprisingly, this wine went very well with our Caprese salad. It also paired with our squash dish topped with hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds, which was not expected. It was excellent with turnips that had been braised in apple cider vinegar. The winery also recommends this “with crispy fish tacos or a fresh, green summer salad.”

Paramount Napa Valley 2014

A Bordeaux blend with notes of smoke and chocolate-dipped cherries on the nose, along with plum and raspberries, and hints of herbs and violets. Notes of black pepper, green peppercorn, cedar, cigar, and vanilla joining the mix. It was elegant on the palate, but still rich and velvety, with dusty tannins on the finish.

Winemaking: 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Cabernet Franc, 28% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. After gently destemming and cold soaking, each variety is fermented, pressed and transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. A 20-month aging process follows, and ultimately, the separate lots become one, as Paramount is blended and bottled. 46% new French oak.
Alcohol: 14.2%
Avg price: $87

Family Home Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2014  

Velvety, red fruits showed on the nose, along with notes of cedar, tobacco, dried herbs, lavender, and a light hit on menthol. A mix of fruits notes joined on the palate, including notes of currants, red berries, cherries, and plums, along with savory notes of cigar box, olives, and a hint of iron.  It was well-structured with dusty tannins and a full body.

Winemaking:  As the name suggests, Family Home rests on the land where Tom Gamble spent his childhood.  It’s a rocky volcanic plot perched on a knoll top in Oakville, with free-draining soils. The vineyard is divided between north-west and south-east facing slopes. This wine spends 20 months in barrel, but I could not find the additional oak percentage details.  
Avg price: $119
 

Both the Paramount and the Family Home paired well with the lamb, but Paramount was more ready to drink now, while Family Home could use more time in the cellar.

 

Pellegrini Merlot Sonoma County 2010 with Roasted Pork and Fennel Corn

Instead of jalapeño-bacon-cheddar corn I decided to make a quick bechamel (I kept it on the thinner side) and flavored it with puréed fennel fronds, then added in the corn, along with halved cherry tomatoes. I gave our pork chops a quick sear to reheat and dinner was good to go.

The wine matched beautifully with this herbal twist on the corn! This wine could also certainly handle heavier meat dishes as well, but all told, the pairing really brought out the best in both the wine and the food.

Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot California 2007 & Paloma Merlot Napa Valley 2010 Dinner Party

The glass on the Paloma isn't frosted. I had put the leftover wine in the fridge to help preserve it to the next day, hence the frosting and condensation.

Peju Merlot Napa Valley 2013 and Chelsea Goldschmidt Dry Creek Merlot 2015 and a Brisket Dinner

Ari’s Veggie Soup Template

• • Jill at l’Occasion shares “#MerlotMe In The Kitchen“
  • Cindy at Grape-Experiences writes “#MerlotMe with Family, Friends, and Food“
  • Lori at Dracaena shares “ #MerlotMe and the Little Chef “
  • Gwen at Wine Predator shares “Washington #MerlotMe Paired with Ahi Tuna and Salmon for #WinePW“
  • Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “Celebrating #Merlotme with Duckhorn & L’Ecole 41”
    
  • Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “So Many Merlots, So Many Pairings for #WinePW“
  • Martin at Enofylz shares “Penne Boscaiola Paired with 2015 Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot“
  • David at Cooking Chat shares “BBQ Beef Stew with Three Palms Merlot“
  • Michelle at Rockin Red Blog shares “Enough Already! Just Drink Merlot”
  • Sarah at Curious Cuisiniere shares “Peking Duck and a Merlot Wine Pairing"
  • Jane at Always Ravenous shares “Food Pairings for Merlot Lovers“
  • Julian at BC Wine Trends shares “BC Merlot with Ribs for Thanksgiving"
  • Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “A month of #MerlotMe Wine and Food Pairings”
    
  • Liz from What’s in that Bottle shares “I’ve Got #MerlotMe Mania”
  • Jennifer at Vino Travels Italy shares “You Had me at #MerlotMe“
  • Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Merlot for Every Day of the Week”

And as an extra-added, no additional cost to you, here's a video post from Nick Goldschmidt, winemaker at Goldschmidt Vineyards in Napa Valley