WTN: Strange combo (Verdicchio and fish tacos)

In our never-ending search for combos no one on earth has tried before, fish tacos and Verdicchio. Betsy had said she was stopping at fishmonger, so I put a bottle of the 2007 Colle Stefano Verdicchio di Matelica in the fridge. When she told me it was tacos (cod, with salsa verde, guacamole, tomato salsa, cheese, and lettuce), I had my doubts. But too lazy to redo wine. Actually, it was fine. The Verdicchio is a very pretty wine ($13). Good body, clean bright acidity, a bit of a saline note. Lots of lemon with some canteloupe/honeydew, some mineral notes with a touch of almond on finish. At once concentrated and light on its feet. Very good summertime wine, getting more. Did fine with the tacos, was even better with straight fish was a bit of the tomatillo sauce on top. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 

In our never-ending search for combos no one on earth has tried before, fish tacos and Verdicchio. Betsy had said she was stopping at fishmonger, so I put a bottle of the 2007 Colle Stefano Verdicchio di Matelica in the fridge. When she told me it was tacos (cod, with salsa verde, guacamole, tomato salsa, cheese, and lettuce), I had my doubts. But too lazy to redo wine. Actually, it was fine. The Verdicchio is a very pretty wine ($13). Good body, clean bright acidity, a bit of a saline note. Lots of lemon with some canteloupe/honeydew, some mineral notes with a touch of almond on finish. At once concentrated and light on its feet. Very good summertime wine, getting more. Did fine with the tacos, was even better with straight fish was a bit of the tomatillo sauce on top. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
 

Interesting. We get fish tacos from a neighborhood burrito joint once in a while and the fish is always battered and deep fried before it goes into the tacos. Was yours done this way, Dale? Also, do you think an off-dry white would work as well or better?

While most of the fish tacos I've had in Southern CA are fried, we marinated the fish in a lime-accented marinade and grilled- similar to this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes ... 20,00.html
I hesitated re grilling, knew it's tough to flip flaky fish, but it was a sticky day and kitchen got so hot when she broiled the tomatillos I didn't want oven going any more. This was tasty, but left a lot of cod on grill. But I was glad for lighter non-fried fare even in airconditioning.
My thought when I was told it was tacos was offdry Riesling or Chenin, due to the (light) heat in the salsas, though this worked out ok. Next time Kabinett.

PS the best fish taco I've had was in Cayucos, at Ruddells Smokehouse, and was not fried or grilled. Smoked ahi, yum.

Thanks for the notes and info. I like trying different wines with things. You never know. My first thought is that the minerality may be odd with a fish taco.

Thanks for the full info as fish tacos can be made many ways with many sauces and condiments.

Jason

I hesitated re grilling, knew it's tough to flip flaky fish, but it was a sticky day and kitchen got so hot when she broiled the tomatillos I didn't want oven going any more. This was tasty, but left a lot of cod on grill.

Dale,
Our solution to this problem is to use a grill basket: it help keep the fish together and can be easily flipped. Of course, the fish will flake when you open the basket, but it's a lot easier to get the fish off the basket as opposed to the grill.

Mark Lipton

Dale; you've just given me a great idea for diner tonight! (By the way, the only thing that sounded strange to me was cheese on the fish taco.)

Mark, I used to have one of those baskets, handy for whole snappers or the like. If it weren't for the heat, though, I think cod and similar very flaky fish are best served by baking.
Steve, the cheese was out because Betsy was having some "vegetarian" tacos (me, I never skip the protein).PS I guess you decided you can't ship to NY? Hopefully Bowler will get some '05 Bassetti out to some NY retailer !