Corks Crew October '12 - Wine & Ceviche Pairing

What does one do when a friend starts up a ceviche catering business? Especially when said friend asks for recommendations about wines that would pair well with his ceviches? Why - of course - you'd have a party and invite your wine nerd friends over to take on that challenge.

Radio Ceviche makes some very unique and delicious food. We tried three different creations - tangy (ginger, hibiscus), spicy (chile de arbol), and herbal (spearmint, basil). Folks were randomly assigned find wines to pair with the unique ceviches. No wine was supposed to be over $20.

The three wines that were paired with the "Flor de Fuego" tangy ceviche:
'10 Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc - Paretai Estate
'11 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc
'11 Angarano Vespaiolo Breganze
Immediately we were all quite impressed by how well the Matua paired with the food. It wasn't over flavored so it allowed the ceviche to shine, but it also had gentle and fun flavors. The Dashwood was also nice, but not as impressive as the Matua. The Vespaiolo was very interesting. Not all that well matched for such a flavorful food, but it had good qualities to be appreciated on its own.

There was a bit of a switcheroo for the second ceviche. Folks were expecting the "El Diablo" spicy ceviche, but since we had mentioned an interest in a new vegan ceviche, that one replaced the spicy one. The vegan ceviche was awesome, but didn't have the features of the spicy ceviche. So the wines that were brought to pair were not necessarily on the mark.
Here are the three wines that were matched with the vegan ceviche:
'11 Selbach "Incline" Riesling
'10 Christian Salmon Sancerre Vieilles Vignes
'10 Crognaleto Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
 The Riesling was fine as a stand-alone, but definitely was a wacky match for the tangy-ness of the ceviche. The Sancerre (a Sauvignon Blanc), was quite understated and unremarkable with the food. The Trebianno was widely panned by folks. Not good with the food, not good by itself. 

The final ceviche, the herbal "Yerba Buena" is epic. It's a clever marriage of herbs and consistency. Here are the paired wines:
'10 Tenuta dell Ugolino Verdiccio
'10 Seagrape Chardonnay - Zotovich Vineyard
'09 Mount Nelson Sauvignon Blanc
The Verdiccio was a solid pairing, though it didn't have quite enough acid to stand up to the ceviche. The person that brought the Seagrape Chardonnay admitted that she paid more than the $20 limit that we had set, and that she didn't care if it paried well with the ceviche that she'd been assigned. She brought it because she loved it and she wanted us to try it. In her defense, it was an awesome drink, and paired pretty well with the food as well. The Mount Nelson was quite good as well - though not as spectacular as previous Sauv pairings.

After all the wines were tried and the ceviche was gone - everyone agreed that the very first wine that we tried, the Matua Sauvignon Blanc, was the best matched wine with it's assigned ceviche. The other star of the day was the Seagrape Chardonnay. It wasn't necessarily all that well paired, it was a wicked delicious wine though. It was interesting that so many Sauvignon Blancs - especially ones from New Zealand - stood up so well to the variety of ceviches. Conventional wisdom on wine and food pairings is to choose wines that are from the same regions as the food.
Since ceviche is a South American and Central American creation, there's no traditional wine to use to pair. In addition to the wines that were tested during our gathering, I've thought that perhaps an Albariño or a Grüner Veltliner would hold up well to the ceviches.
At the end of the evening we decided that the next gathering's theme would be: Favorite Holiday Dinner Side Dishes and Paired Wines. It's not a catchy title - but should be fun.