Pairing: Halibut and Chickpea Ragout paired with 2013 Finca Las Caraballas Verdejo White Wine

Food:  Full disclosure … halibut is a very stressed fishery and we are very careful from whom we get it. We buy a whole fish (30-40 lbs) directly from a fisherman just down the road from us on Prince Edward Island. This lasts us a full year in the freezer, after sharing some of it with neighbors. PEI manages the halibut fishery very tightly allowing fishermen only a couple of days a year to fish for halibut, and for a very limited catch by weight. With that said, this dish would work fine with other more available white fish. The ragout is simply made with stock, canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), onion, shallot, garlic, tomato, and herbs. The fish is poached directly in the ragout for an easy one-pot meal. Oh … and did I mention it’s really low in calories?

Wine: Verdejo is widely regarded as Spain’s finest white wine, and is grown extensively in the Rueda region of the high altitude country northeast of Madrid. It has been grown there for over a thousand years and is believed to have been brought from North Africa by the Moors.  A very drinkable wine that pairs well with many different foods, especially seafood.  And … very affordable at less than $15. Enjoy!

Tasting:  Medium yellow in color. Green apple on the nose. A bracing, clean acidity with flavors of green apple and white flowers. Just a hint of grapefruit to make it even more interesting. Does a nice job complementing the flavors of the ragout.

Other Foods That Pair Well with This Wine: Pasta with Pesto, Crab Cakes, Salad, White Fish, Spicy Dishes (e.g., Jambalaya)

Other Wines That Pair Well with This Food: Albarino (Spain), White Bordeaux (France), Sauvignon Blanc (US), Verdicchio (Italy), Vinho Verde (Portugal)

Read About:  http://www.bbr.com/grape-vj-verdejo  

http://www.intowine.com/verdejo-spain’s-signature-white-grape

A Source: www.wine.com