For those who have suggested an aged Rioja, what is it about the pairing that you think will work? Not trying to be challenging at all; I’m just really curious and have limited experience with Rioja much less aged versions.
Dry style of Jurancon maybe? Gros and Petit Manseng…yum.
P, Willenberg’s suggestion was intriguing to me because there is often what is identified as a dill note in American oak aged Rioja. I thought that the interplay with the dill in the cucumber soup would be an interesting experiment.
I also would love to hear P. Willenberg’s thoughts.
Are the cucumbers actually cooked [at “boiling” temperatures]?
Or is it more of a cold, non-cooked soup?
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never had cooked cucumbers [other than as pickles].
I served a cold cucmber soup (greek yogurt, labneh, dill, garlic, white vinegar, topped with lump blue crab) as the first course at a dinner party a couple of weeks ago. Went quite well with 1999 and 2001 Clos Ste Hune.
As for the wine, if you’re a gazillionaire, then Bordeaux Blanc - Ygrec, HB, LaVille HB [which I guess has been re-christened as La Mission HB?], etc.
Also for gazillionaires: Didier Dagueneau - maybe a Silex with a lot of age on it.
For normal folks, however, we’re seeing a 2014 J P Brun Beaujolais Blanc down here which is an exceptionally rich & full-bodied wine, and which shows a variety of different faces over the course of several days:
[u]http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/brun+beaujolais+blanc/2014[/u]
I’d almost argue for stock-piling and cellaring that Brun, except that it was bottled with a fake cork, so it might need to be consumed in the next five to ten years.
If it had been bottled with a real cork, or a screw cap, then it would have struck me as being possibly a 30- to 40-year wine.
Another affordable wine, which has had very rich mouthfeel in the past, would be that Tissot Arbois Chardonnay:
[u]http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/tissot+arbois+chardonnay[/u]
But wines like Brun Blanc & Tissot Chardonnay are not the kind of thing that you’re liable to find in the corner drugstore - unless you’re really lucky, they tend to require a little elbow grease & sweat equity to procure.
100% what was thinking. Plus the tertiary herbal notes like moss and dried thyme that sometimes are present.
I also like how a simple, yet slightly salty soup can really give an old wine some supporting flesh, coaxing out fruit you wouldn’t percieve with a meat or cheese pairing.
This.
The soup is not yoghurt based, it uses cream, potato, and butter. As to the dill tie in, I have found it to be more pronounced in younger Rioja than one that is approaching 30 years. Nonetheless, in the interest of science, I plan to pour off ~2 oz when I open the bottle and reserve it to taste with the soup.
Ah that’s really interesting. Thanks Katrina!!!
I ran a soup like this for years during the summer, mine was:
Peeled and cleaned cucumbers
Peeled and cubed onion,
Garlic
Xvoo
Lemon juice
S&p
Purée…
Dallop of herbed sour cream or creme freche
I used to serve the Maria Von othegreven ‘Maria O’, it was drier, crisp and lemony and worked really well…
The soup was divine, the Gruner (Tegernseerhof Loibenberg Federspiel 2014) was uninspired, and the pairing…meh. The Rioja (1987 Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Viña Albina Gran Reserva) was lovely, though a touch on the tired side, and worked very well with the cheeses and pate but, not a good match for the soup. My next attempt at pairing will be a dry Riesling.
Thanks for the follow up!
Easy. Sancerre
Moet & Chandon Imperial or a slightly acidic off-dry riesling.
You might be on to something with Sancerre. I think it might work better than the dry Riesling with our recipe.