VineBuzz

Last week, my friend Paul Mabray (chief strategy officer, VinTank) placed a bottle of TrainWreck, Sauvignon Blanc 2009 into my hands and asked me to share my thoughts about it with him.

When Mr. Mabray asks for opinions on wine, it's best to take his request seriously while without over-inflating one's sense of one's self because success requires putting those senses to the task at hand. I hope that I have achieved balance in these aims.

I planned to pair TrainWreck to a spicy dish with sweet crispy vegetables. This delicate course is an appropriate culinary gauntlet through which to challenge this style of Sauvignon Blanc.

I love to cook with freshly peeled and chopped water chestnuts in sautees and reduction sauces, so I made my signature pacific rim version of Kung Pao Chicken for my family. As wine and food critics go, their expectations are right up there. I can't help but wonder where it comes from. Nonetheless, they cleared their plates joyfully with the aid of a brief marriage to TrainWreck balancing the experience from one end of the palate to the other. This left me with the last glass of wine and the final serving of the dish to share with you my impressions.