pairing the 2019 bending branch winery comfortage

The 2019 Comfortage from Bending Branch Winery in Comfort, TX is a 50-50 blend of the Marsanne and Rousanne grapes aged in new American oak barrels. Both varieties make relatively full-bodied white wines, so its not surprising that the Comfortage is also a gorgeous full-bodied wine, meaning it coats your mouth with an oily-silkiness like full-fat milk. On the nose this wine was full of ripe apricots, honey, and a hint of nuttiness from the oak influence. In the mouth the fruit continued to shine, but the oak influence was definitely more noticeable leaving a pleasant, sweetened medium finish in your mouth.

When I first tasted this wine, through our wine club allotment, I thought it would be great with food. In thinking through what to make, I looked into the grape varieties individually and examine the similarities and differences in their flavor profiles. Both Marsanne and Rousanne elicit flavors/aromas of apricot, beeswax, citrus, and flowers; however, Rousanne is a little more acidic than Marsanne, which is slightly sweeter. This dichotomy makes it clearly why blending them together makes sense. The suggested foods for Marsanne were shellfish and dishes with citrus notes, while the recommendation for Rousanne was buttery (fatty) meats like lobster, crab, or paté.

With all this in mind I went wading into the interwebs to find a dish that would pair with the Comfortage. I decided I wanted an Asian-inspired shrimp dish which would have the citrus notes I was looking for as well as sweet to complement the acidity in the Rousanne. Interestingly, many of the recipes I ran across either included broccoli or were touted as spicy, both of which would leave bitter taste when paired with the acids in the wine. At last, I found the skinny Chinese orange chicken from cookingmadehealthy.com. It has citrus (orange), sweetness (honey), and wasn’t spice! At the grocery store, I ended up choosing a cara cara orange versus a naval orange because of it’s brighter and sweeter flavor… they were also riper so would ensure I got a LOT of yummy juice. The post doesn’t really go into what type of orange to use, but my assumption was that the author’s intention was likely a naval orange. While making the dish I followed exactly as directed; however, I thought a bit too much orange zest from the peel, so I only used about half of the zest to ensure the dish wasn’t too tart. I also used a half cup of julienned carrots, not the suggested shredded carrot, only to add more texture to the dish. Once everything was prepared the recipe was SUPER easy and quick!

I plated the shrimp on a bed of rice and we dug in. The dish was sweet and tangy (from the ginger) and didn’t feel heavy or sticky. When paired with the wine, I got exactly what I wanted. The sweetness of the cara cara orange and honey went really well with the sweet fruit of the wine. Nothing got lost! The wine shone brightly with each bite and the shrimp were so tasty we had to restrain ourselves to keep from eating all of them at once.

Bon appetit!

* Remember, let a white wine come up to in temperature by removing it from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you serve your meal. You want it cool, but not so cold that it doesn’t present its full aroma and flavor profile to you.

** I am a wine club member at Bending Branch Winery. This post was not sponsored by Bending Branch Winery or cookingmadehealthy.com.

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