Allegra and Baillie-Grohman get together for a wine-pairing event

Chef and vintner educate palates in Cranbrook

1 of 3Chef Thomas Nay of Cranbrook’s Allegra restaurant, left, with Bob Johnson of Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery. — Marie Milner photo

2 of 3Three Baillie-Grohman wines featured at the wine-pairing dinner at Allegra restaurant. — Marie Milner photo

3 of 3Baillie-Grohman's Blanc de Noir, a beautiful mellow rosé, is perfect with duck breast, buckwheat noodles and cranberry-orange sauce. — Marie Milner photo

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When people on Allegra restaurant’s mailing list were informed that the fine-dining establishment was going to be holding a wine-pairing evenings, the reservations flooded in. Chef Thomas Nay, owner of the Cranbrook restaurant, was planning to design three dishes to complement three wines provided by Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery of Creston; we were lucky enough to get the last two available seats.

The idea behind wine pairing is to make it easy and inexpensive to try a number of wines in an evening, and to pair them with complementary foods. Many of these pairing parties are being held in private homes, but restaurants and wineries are getting in on the act too.

Being seated at the bar meant that we had a view of the kitchen where Nay was working; as well, we were close to Bob Johnson of Baillie-Grohman as he gave the guests a brief description of the wines being served and responded to their questions and comments. Johnson and his wife, Petra Flaa, are owners/operators of Baillie-Grohman; Johnson is in charge of marketing and management, and Flaa is in charge of the vineyard.

“Every plant is her baby,” Johnson said, “and her babies get the best of care.”

Baillie-Grohman winery is fortunate to have access to the wisdom and experience of winemaker Dan Barker, owner of Moana Park Winery in New Zealand and winner of a number of awards including a gold medal from the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards in London, England. Barker spends several months of each year with Baillie-Grohman.

Allegra’s food always pleases, and Nay outdid himself that evening. To complement Baillie-Grohman’s Gewurztraminer—a fruity white wine that has many layers of flavour—Nay grilled prawns and scallops on a lemongrass skewer and served them with a curried tropical fruit chutney. The Blanc de Noir, a beautiful mellow rosé, was delicious with duck breast on a bed of buckwheat noodles and a cranberry-orange sauce. The last course was a perfect lamb chop with rich and creamy asparagus truffle risotto accompanied by a dark, full-bodied Pinot Noir. After a meal like that, it’s hard not to think of food as a friend!

For your own wine-pairing evening, you might want to focus on favourite reds and whites with complementary finger foods—ask your guests to do a little research and bring along a food and wine that go well together. Or plan a dinner with several courses and ask your guests to match the wines with the menu.

Wines from Creston’s Skimmerhorn Winery were also featured at Allegra at a recent wine-pairing dinner, and this event, too, attracted a full house. We will be looking for similar opportunities to sample B.C’s vintages, and perhaps learn more about local culinary offerings at the same time.