During “normal” times, Chef Meets BC Grape is the largest tasting of BC wine and food in Western Canada. Last year hundreds of wine lovers converged on the Vancouver Convention Centre to taste BC wines paired with small plates prepared by top BC chefs. Attendees could vote, alongside celebrity judges, for their favourite food and wine pairing. This year, like many other annual events, Chef Meets BC Grape has been forced to reinvent itself, resulting in the creation of the Somm Smackdown.
Sommeliers in British Columbia and Alberta were invited to test their BC wine knowledge in a written and blind tasting challenge, which took place in Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary. Nine Sommeliers (the top three Sommeliers from Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary) moved on to compete in the ‘Best of BC Wine Pairing’ in their city.
Last week Vancouver hosted their ‘Best of BC Wine Pairing’ with Sommelier finalists Lisa Weizert, Christian Hartigan and Andrew Forsyth. Twenty-one judges were delivered a partially prepared, three course meal along with the wines that the top three Vancouver Sommeliers chose to pair with each course (see chart below for wine pairings).
The courses consisted of:
Course 1 – Chef Roger Slieman from Old Vines Restaurant at Quail’s Gate, created a tanto latte burrata, with pickled nectarines, waygu bressola, pumpkin seed, baby kale and jalapeno vinaigrette.
Course 2 – Executive Chef Alex Chen at Boulevard Restaurant prepared Sea Bream en croute de sel, with stewed mushroom ‘butter’, roasted fennel and braised Cipollini onions.
Course 3 – Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson prepared braised short rib with wild rice miso glaze, served with roasted carrots, pan-fried ‘pretzel’ dumplings and smoked celeriac purée.
| Sommelier | Course | Wine |
| Lisa Weizert, Sommelier Chambar Restaurant | Course 1 | 2019 Tantalus Riesling |
| Course 2 | 2018 Quail’s Gate Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay | |
| Course 3 | 2018 Arrowleaf Cellars Zweigelt | |
| Christian Hartigan, Wine Director at Wildebeest Resturant | Course 1 | 2019 Terravista Fandango |
| Course 2 | 2017 Roche Wines ‘Tradition’ Chardonnay | |
| Course 3 | 2014 Culmina Hypothesis | |
| Andrew Forsyth, Sommelier L’Abattoir Restaurant | Course 1 | Unsworth Charme de L’Île Rosé |
| Course 2 | 2015 CheckMate Fool’s Mate Chardonnay | |
| Course 3 | 2015 Le Vieux Pin Cuvée Syrah |
The winner of the ‘Best of BC Wine Pairing’ in Vancouver was Andrew Forsyth. The ‘Best of BC Wine Pairing’ in Calgary and Victoria is set to take place on September 28th and October 6th respectively. The winners will join Andrew Forsyth later this year at the Okanagan Grand Finale Dinner. The Sommelier with the highest score at this dinner will receive the title of Top BC Wine Sommelier 2020.
I had been debating on what dish to pair with the 2019 Terravista Fandango, and I decided to create a salad inspired by Chef Roger Slieman’s tanto latte burrata. I combined burrata with pickled nectarines, pumpkin seeds and baby kale tossed in a lime and cilantro vinaigrette.
2019 Terravista Fandango $25.00
2019 is the ninth vintage of Fandango and it includes a blend of 61% Albariño and 39% Verdejo, which were estate grown at the Lone Hand Ranch Vineyard in Naramata. The grapes were hand-picked, gently whole-cluster pressed and then cool fermented.
After several hours in the decanter there are grassy notes accompanied by aromas of green apple, lime, yellow grapefruit, lemon and nectarine. This is a dry, medium bodied wine with high acidity. The palate offers flavours of lemon, yellow grapefruit, nectarine, lime and green apple with a long finish.
The Fandango paired beautifully with this salad. The wine was a great match for the creamy burrata, while the vinaigrette and the pickled nectarines tamed the wine’s acidity and enhanced the nectarine flavours.
References
Pawsey, T. (September 25, 2020). Somm Smackdown: ‘Kids’ in the Hall Edition. Retrieved from: https://hiredbelly.com/somm-smackdown-kids-in-the-hall-edition/18141