Surf And Turf

Wondering Is there any wine Pairing That is A Perfect match for the Old Suf And Turf Combo....Recently dined at a Classic Expensive Steak/Lobster Restaurant in Florida here with My Wife...and We Decided to Split a 4 Pound Lobster and a Prime Porterhouse Steak... Couldn't figure out a Wine Pairing...SO we Stuck with the Grey Goose Vodka Martinis!! I know you could probably Get Away with A Sparkling Wine or Champagne Choice...But I didn't Want a Big Bold Red that Would Over Power The Buttery, Lemony, Lobster as well as A Fruity, Buttery Acidic White Not matching up with the Well , Marbled, Slab of Prime Beef... Is there a Pairing for SURF AND TURF?

The closest single wine that comes to my mind is Caymus Conundrum. It is a blend of whites done by Caymus and it has the body for all but the most charred beef, plus it has enough acid and complimentary tastes for most lobster.

Is it the perfect match for both? Not hardly. You were right-on with a Champagne, or sparkler, or a really big, over-the-top Chardonnay for the crustacean. You might have then tried a Zin or Syrah for the beef. I often still have four, or five wines left around a multi-course meal and, with a bit of bread, find no problem sampling the grouping. Is that the ultimate way to do it? Again, not hardly, but it is a better choice for my palette, than Vodka Martinis.

An interesting taste ride would be to go Caymus all the way with the Conundrum for the lobster, and some '94 SS Cab for the beef.

Bulldog

Not an easy match. I usually order the lobster as a separate course and enjoy a half bottle of a good Sauternes or Barsac

Of course: top class Grüner Veltliner. Try a Smaragd from Pichler, Prager, Knoll, or Hirtzberger.

Michael, are there not multiple Pichlers (F. X. and Manfred, IIRC)? Were you referring to one in particular or in aggregate (die Pichlern?)

TIA

Mark Lipton

^^^^^^^^^^^^

'Die Pichlers' in plural.

In fact I was referring to F. X. (Franz Xaver) Pichler in Loiben. The next best of the Pichlers is Rudolf 'Rudi' Pichler in Wösendorf. And then there are Franz & Maria Pichler of Weissenkirchen, this Franz being the in-law of Franz Hirtzberger. He's the brother of Hirtzberger's wife Irmgard.

There's no Manfred Pichler I have heard of. The most famous of all Manfreds is Manfred Tement of Ehrenhausen in Südsteiermark (Styria).

^^^^^^^^^^^

Berghausen, sorry for the typo.

I should've known that one

Michael, My local wine emporium is selling the FX Pichler 1999 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 'M' for US$89. For my information, what is a typical retail price of this wine in Austria?

Mark Lipton

There is no 'typical retail price' since this wine is extremely rare. One of the shops having it is 'Wein & Co'. Take a look (and find Prager, Hirtzberger, Rudi Pichler, etc.):
http://www.weinco.at/new/viewpg.asp?PG=108

There the price of the 'M' (but vintage 2000; 1999 has been sold out for long) is ATS 699.00, which translates to USD 64.18 (rate of today).

As always, much appreciated, Michael.

Mark Lipton