Brunching it up with Barton & Guestier Vouvray

Pris has been on a bit of a quest to try new foods from our magazines that we subscribe to and pair them with wines from our collection.  This normally involves me doing a lot of work in the kitchen on the weekend and dirtying a lot of dishes.  However, I like cooking and I like drinking wine or beer while I cook.  So it all works out in the end. 

We decided last night to do a Sunday brunch today.  The menu was a spinach salad with grapes, bacon, pecans, havarti dill cheese, and a raspberry/bacon vinaigrette. The salad was really easy to make and exceptionally good.  Of course anything made with that much bacon has to be good.  For the main course I made a Spanish tortilla.  It was a surprisingly simple mix of onions, potatoes, bacon and eggs.  Now that I've got the basics down I'll probably try some different variations later on.  Pris also poured us a little orange juice mixed with some leftover Gewürztraminer for her own take on the mimosa. Really good, great combination.

To go with this fine little brunch Pris selected a fine French white wine from Barton & Guestier that we picked up back before the move.  Barton & Guestier's Vouvray is a nicely chilled white wine that went really well with the meal.  The Vouvray had a fresh citrusy nose.  On the palate it was light with more citrus.  There was a crisp acidity that asserted itself with plenty of bite and a bit of tanginess in the mid-palate.  The B&G had a slightly sweet almost cloying finish to it.

The wine paired well with the tortilla thanks to the citrus.  Just think how well bacon, eggs, and orange juice go together.  But where this wine really shined was in the pairing with the salad.  The crisp citrus acidity complemented the tangy sweetness of the vinaigrette, and contrasted nicely with the earthy pecans, savory bacon, and creamy havarti.  Overall, it was an amazing set of flavor combinations.

The Barton & Guestier Vouvray is a great summer wine.  The lightness and crispness will allow it to pair with any number of light summer meals.  It will also do great all on its own as a refreshing drink during the hot summer afternoons here in the Valley.

Neither Pris nor I remember where or how we got the Barton & Guestier Vouvray, so I can't really provide that info.  But look for it at your local stores.  If we bought it, most likely it was purchased at H.E.B.  Online it lists the price between $10 and $11 a bottle.  So this is a very good buy at a really good price.  You can find out more about this wine at:  http://www.barton-guestier.com/