Yquem desert pairing

Lur Saluces, in his own words, described his attitude towards pairing his wine with dessert. He says that when serving Yquem you should lock the pastry chef up somewhere.

Indeed pairing Yquem with dessert is not easy. It is probably best appreciated alone, or paired to some more substantial food, but not sweets. We recently tried it, with him, with a vietnamese style Nem stuffed with quail and accompanied by a spicy sauce. The Count himself approved.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

To me, nothing goes better with Yquem (or any other Sauternes for that matter) than foie gras. And if that means taking an ordinary "appetizer" and making a dessert out of it, then so be it. It is the "perfect" pair.

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Dessert is not actually a great match with Sauternes. Can you find a high quality Roquefort cheese? That would make a far better match. Also, you do realize that drinking a '98 now is infanticide?

Mark Lipton

Mike, What is the present connection between Lur-Saluces and Yquem? My understanding is that LVMH has been the controlling interest since '98.

Mark Lipton

Some would suggest that foie gras (goose liver) is the ultimate pairing.

Shell

He also suggested oysters. Seemed less enthusiastic about foie gras, as though it were a tired old habit.

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

An appreciative partner.

Years ago as reported here at least once I hosted a d'Yquem vertical at a California nouvelle cuisine restaurant in Baltimore featuring at least the

62, 67, 55, 70,71, 75 & 76 and the current(as of 1985) vintage of Y'grec. We had foie gras, lobster and desserts if I recall.. Besides being snowed out once, I had a bitch of a cold but since I was getting $100 per person shared with the restaurant, the show went on. The Ygrec did well with lobster the 55,62 & 67 showed well with the chopped liver and the rest really was not enhanced by anything. I'll do a google if you all want

IMHO, nowhere else is the qualitative difference between the best wine and the next best as great as with sauterne and barsac. Ch De Fargues on a occasion comes close and Rieussec, Climens and others make profound wine that on a QPR scale are much more affordable. But there is nothing like a d'Yquem in a decent year. Before I make my transition, I want it one last time either orally or in my "drip".

Yquem has been drunk with many foods over the years as food styles and fads change. One of the earlier owners of Yquem thought pairing with lobster was very good. Now Foie Gras seems to be the rage in many circles. Yquem and other sweet wines can be paired wih fresh fruit, but this is very tricky. If the fruit is not sweet enough it will suffer, and if the fruit is too sweet the wine will suffer. If you were the owner of a large fruit store, you probaby could pick a good match. Take apples. I have recently found a source of many antique apple varities. They can range from being very tart and having little sweetness to extremely sweet. They can range from soft to very crisp. The smell and taste also varies greatly. Peaches also can show nearly as much variation.

Yquem is a rich wine, but is many steps in richness below the top TBAs, top grades of Tokaji, and some other wines. Of course the better examples of such wines including Yquem are complete and can be drunk just about anytime alone. They can serve perfectly well alone as dessert. In the context of a meal, I like to serve a small glass of such a wine alone just before the dessert. Then bring on the richest torte Demel has to offer with very good dark coffee.

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