Pairing:  Spanakopita and 2013 Don David Torrontés

Food:  Spanakopita is a traditional Greek pastry made with feta cheese, spinach, and egg. Our recipe is a favorite from an old copy of Craig Claiborne’s NY Times International Cookbook, but there are lots of recipes out there from which to choose. However, our pastry is not made with the usual flakey phyllo dough found in supermarkets. Rather it is a non-layered phyllo called spitiko filo (recipe found in Diane Kochias’s cookbook, Ikaria). We’ve served ours with sausage made from chicken, feta and spinach from a nearby market, and beets from a neighbor’s garden. A very tasty combination.

Wine:  More often than not, the most successful food and wine pairings happen when both the food and the wine come from the same country or region within that country. For example, pasta with tomato sauce and a good chianti. Or boeuf bourguignon and a red burgundy. However, as one samples wines from many different parts of the world, a mental inventory begins to form (or perhaps, if you’re really organized, you’ve created a wine journal to keep track of the different flavors of different wines). Torrontés is a grape variety unique to Argentina. This pairing is an example of the food and wine coming from different parts of the world, but with flavor profiles that complement one another very nicely.

Tasting:  A delightful, gentle lemon aroma is what comes right to the nose. That same light lemon flavor combined with a hint of green melon describes the taste of this very nice simple wine. The taste of lemon or other citrus can sometimes be too harsh in a wine. This Torrontés hits the mark with a sort of sweet acidity, but remains a refreshing dry wine. It should be noted that lemon is an important dimension of Greek cuisine, so it’s no surprise that this wine is such a good complement to this meal.

Other Wines that Pair Well with This Food:  Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Verdicchio, Assyrtiko (Greek)

Others Foods that Pair Well with This Wine: White Fish, Asian Food, Shellfish (Oysters, Mussels, etc.), Mexican Food

Read About:  http://www.elesteco.com/en/category/vinos/don-david-reserve/

http://www.winesofargentina.org/argentina/variedades/malbec-torrontes/torrontes/

A Source:  www.wine.com