The “Discover the Flavors of Winestone” wine-and-food pairing workshop is an intimate event that requires registration. Information about the event is always posted in advance on the Winestone Bolesławiec website. “Discover the Flavors of Winestone” is a tasting of five dishes and five wines selected to accompany them, combined with a survey in which guests evaluate the pairings.
The workshop held on Thursday, June 24, was led by Polish Sommeliers Association member Mateusz Jakuć. He selected the wines to accompany the dishes and hosted the event together with Jarosław Szponer from Winestone.
An aperitif was served first: one of the better sparkling wines produced in Poland, from a vineyard located among the green hills in the Natura 2000 area near Krosno Odrzańskie. The wine was created by a Frenchman who specializes in sparkling wines, using the traditional production method originating in Champagne. The wine is a blend of several grape varieties and matures for seven months on the lees. As a result, it is exceptionally juicy and lively, with pronounced acidity.
The first course was an appetizer: salmon tartare. A mixture of fresh and smoked salmon, which gave the dish extra character, was combined with fresh sorrel, capers and chive-flavored oil that added a velvety texture. The appetizer was served with a fresh, full-bodied white wine rich in fruit flavors from Portugal’s Alentejo region. The wine’s good acidity and lightness complemented the dish well.
The second course was shrimp in a sauce made from fresh mango and coconut milk, served with wild rice. The pairing with a white wine from Spain’s Galicia region was exceptionally successful. The white wine, made from a grape variety from the Rías Baixas area, was characterized by freshness and apricot flavors.
A burger with octopus fried in sesame oil, Italian, slightly spicy ’nduja and marinara sauce was served as the next course and paired with a Spanish white wine—one of the major attractions of wine tourism on the Iberian Peninsula. The organic wine, aged for eight months in an oak barrel, had nutty and honeyed notes and a long finish, making it an ideal match for the delicately spicy burger.
Tuna steak in a velvety beurre blanc sauce based on wine was the final dish served at the workshop. It was paired with a Portuguese red wine from the Douro region. Wines of this type are known in the wine world as Rolls-Royces. Light and intensely fruity, with aromas of red fruit, spices and tobacco leaves, the wine was one of the more interesting labels of the evening.
For dessert, fried coconut-coated ice cream with a banana flambéed in alcohol was served, along with an Italian liqueur that, after five years of aging in barrels, was infused with herbs and selected ingredients. As a result, its flavor reveals caramelized sugar, bitter orange, cinnamon, licorice and saffron. Served over ice with orange peel, the drink proved an excellent digestif after a substantial dinner.
The guests tasting the dishes awarded first place to the first course—the salmon tartare, a mixture of fresh and smoked salmon—paired with a white wine from Portugal’s Alentejo region.
All the dishes were prepared by Head Chef Łukasz Leszczynowicz.