Dinner planning

I'm planning a four-course dinner; the third and fourth courses, steak and chocolate, and their wine matches are decided. I'm looking for opinions on the first and second courses.

One of the first two will be seared scallops with browned butter, probably with a NZ sauvignon blanc. The other is a tort assembled from very thin slices of fried potatoes, chevre, and darkly caramelized onions.

Two questions:

1. What wine to serve with the potato, chevre, onion tort?

2. Which course should be served first?

Thanks in advance. I always appreciate the input I get here.

The torte scream for Alsatian wine, riesling or pinot blanc.

NZ sauvignon blanc is OTT for me. Have you considered champagne or albarino?

In any case, I'd serve the seafood first, then the torte.

[Jenise]

While I don't share Jeff's dislike of NZ sauv blanc, I agree overall with his suggestions. And: scallops/NZ first, followed by the richer wine/food.

Thank you Jeff and Jenise!

Based on your advice and help from a local wine shop, we went with a Mader 2020 Muhlforst riesling, and it was a wonderful pairing. We and our guests loved it.

We did the scallops first, with an Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc, which had a very nice citrusy pineapple note, and was also very popular.

Jeff, could you expand on why you avoid NZ sauvignon blanc?

Thank you Jeff and Jenise!

Based on your advice and help from a local wine shop, we went with a Mader 2020 Muhlforst riesling, and it was a wonderful pairing. We and our guests loved it.

We did the scallops first, with an Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc, which had a very nice citrusy pineapple note, and was also very popular.

Jeff, could you expand on why you avoid NZ sauvignon blanc?

You're welcome. Sounds like the pairing went well.

It's purely a matter of taste, of course. I find them rather green (meaning vegetal, not underripe), sharp, and assertive. Good for a sip but I don't need a whole glass of it, usually.