Good Morning!

Last week while in Salida, CO, I was with my Aunts and their friends and we were in the town of 5000 for dinner. My aunt called made reservations and the 6 of us headed to eat. We went to a place called The Laughing Lady. It was adorable and if you have never been to Salida, it is a small artist and skiing destination. Little galleries located on the Arkansas river about 3 hours from Denver. The restaurant had a broad wine list and the food is very high end.

The problem with being the wine “expert” (which if you read my blog often you and I both know, I am learning, I am not expert), but when others hand you the wine list and say find us a great bottle, the pressure is always on. Everyone had ordered something different and I want everyone to be happy and have a perfect wine and food pairing. I ordered Seabass, 2 others ordered Lamb, 1 ordered Fried Chicken, 1 Meatloaf and 1 Salmon. I looked over the list and while I was heading in another direction towards a white wine, the guy with the fried chicken says, I only drink red.

I took a deep breath and remember the television show “Pairings with Andrea” which featured Andrea Immer Robinson the super Master Sommelier and she said if ordering wine by the bottle the two easiest wines to work with most foods are Pinot Noir if you go red and Riesling if you are thinking white. She said they are the most broad “food friendly” wines. I also kept in mind some of the folks at the table were not wanting to break the bank when it comes to price on the wine, so I saw a Pinot Noir from one of my favorite area Willamette Valley in Oregon and said let’s try the Plowbuster!

It was a light bodied, very complex and rich tasting wine. Everyone was very happy with the wine, but we did not have our meals yet, so I was happy with myself but I was interested to see how the wine worked with the food. I knew it should work with the lamb, salmon and but you never know what kinda sauces they add to the dish and that can really be the key factor in pairing the wine. The Pinot worked very nicely with the Seabass and then I tried the meatloaf, it had a very earthy mushroom gravy and it was a great match and the fried chicken might have been the only dish that I wish I would have had a more sharp white wine pairing like Sauvignon Blanc, they made a delicious white gravy, but it was not a perfect paring, it was not bad, it was just not perfect but everyone was really happy!

Here is what I learned this past week..If your in Salida, CO eat at The Laughing Lady and if you are ordering wine for a large group, Think about Pinot Noir for a go to red choice and if you want to go to a white wine try a dry Riesling and you can thank Andrea Immer Robinson for the tip!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi