I tend to write some of my stories ahead of time, when the muse strikes me.  I am just getting to a wine question that had me perplexed for the moment.  My Bride wanted to prepare a traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner for St. Patrick’s Day.  That was fine with me, as I happen to enjoy Corned Beef for dinner, and also like it as hash with poached eggs for breakfast, so I was all set for a nice meal.  Then she posed a question to me “what wine are you going to get from the cellar?”

I ponder this question, as I did not want to make a snap decision.  At first I thought well it is beef, so I should grab a red wine.  As I went through some of my reds and ticked them off mentally, I was able to eliminate Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir immediately; as I felt that these would overpower the dish.  I also thought about the condiments that we were going to use, horseradish and mustard, not to mention the cabbage which made me nix the above wines.  I then thought about a Malbec, Beaujolais and a Zinfandel and decided that these may be too fruity and sweet against the meal.  I also decided against my two standard go to wines, because I thought that a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or a Rioja Reserva would not pair very well with the dinner.

As I thought about it some more, I decided that perhaps I should entertain the thought of a white wine.  I dismissed a Riesling as too sweet, and a Pinot Grigio as too bland for the dish.  A Viognier, I thought would fight the dish, because of the usual flowery bouquet of a nose.  Then it hit me, that a Gewurztraminer would do the trick.  I like how this spicy tasting wine works with Asian-rim cuisine, and I thought that it would complement the condiments and I also thought that it could hold it’s own against even the cabbage.  All of this was working in my “mind’s eye.”  I went down to the cellar and searched for a bottle of Gewurztraminer from my rack of white wines.  I decided on a bottle from Bowers Harbor Vineyards 2008 from the Old Mission Peninsula near Traverse City in the northern part of Lower Michigan.  We had been to this winery several times, and each time, we always left with a few bottles of their Gewurztraminer as well as some of their other bottles of wine.   I chilled the wine in preparation of the dinner, opened it and pour without any fanfare.  Not only was I pleased with the selection for dinner, but my Bride was equally happy with it, and it was a pleasant wine to drink into the evening as well.