I returned to the scene of the gastronomic crime and dined on
> Patagonian Toothfish accompanied by Vouvray. All present are now
> informed that it isn't any sort of a sea bass and will never look at
> it in quite the same way again. We now feel much less guilt as we are
> consumming some sort of vicious carnivore of the deep rather than a
> passive fat pescadore. The sense of adventure was palpable.
>
> The two Vouvray's we tried were both 2005. One was a revisitation of
> the very peach predominant wine I mentioned in the first post. It was
> from Pierre Chainier. And works very well as a pairing with the fish. >
> The second was from Monmousseau and was much more traditional in terms
> of a Chenin Blanc profile--bright white, crisp, clear, floral and less
> sweet than the P Chainier.
>
> Both were excellent summer wines.
>
Hi Ed,
Glad you survived the encounter with the Toothfish. Vouvray tends to vary in sweetness according to the year. Sometimes bottles are labelled "tendre" or "demi-sec", (or of course moelleux) but not always; so it can be a little bit of an adventure.
Also a source of some of the finest bubbles.
2005 was a very good year in the Loire generally, and though I haven't tasted any Vouvray of the vintage I will expect it to be very good.
cheers,
-E