It is now a common practice to offer a pairing for each course of a dinner with an appropriate wine choice, with even mid-range restaurants offering wine-matching options. Champagne, though, has traditionally been left out of the fray. Berlin-based chef Tim Raue, at a dinner to celebrate the Krug champagne dynasty, however, chose to pair his Asian-inspired fusion cuisine with champagne, ranging from Krug’s Grange Cuvées to vintage single estate. Matching a wasabi langoustine and celery, truffle and lettuce roll with Krug’s Grande Cuvée ID 214032, Raue played on the zingy, tangy notes of the champagne with the sharpness of the wasabi. Prawn cracker flakes complemented the champagne’s effervescence.
The highlight of the dinner was the Hamachi ceviche with elderflower and green melon, where a 2003 Clos du Mesnil, a champagne from a tiny single estate of Chardonnay grapes provided the accompaniment. Sous vide Sichuan beef followed, matched by a tart and fruity 2003 vintage. Rounding off the dinner, a nutty Grande Cuvée met a beurre salée sorbet accompanied by mango and passion fruit, and Tim Raue handed round large bowls of truffles as a coup de grace. As Maggie Hernandez, Krug CEO noted, “Matching food to champagne is new: I want people to feel comfortable ordering champagne with dinner, rejecting the flute and embracing this pairing and approach.”