The other day was one of those non stop days, jumping from one meeting to another to another.  Suddenly, it was late afternoon and I realized that I hadn’t made plans for dinner.  I headed over to AJ’s and picked up a piece of their Baja chicken breast.  This looked intriguing to me, a fresh chicken breast layered in a creamy Caesar based sauce pureed with jalapenos and stuffed with Anaheim chili and a cream cheese based sauce.  Thinking about a wine to pair, an oaked, creamy Chardonnay would have worked but I wanted to stick with something in my cellar.  Then it hit me.  I picked up a half dozen Chateau Haut Smith Lafitte, a white Bordeaux, a couple of years of ago on sale at AJ’s.  For those of you unfamiliar with this varietal, it’s a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.  The Semillon offers a full and almost waxy lemony and honey scent reminiscent of lemon meringue pie while the Sauvignon Blanc brings its citrus acidity.  The wine normally runs around $55-60 but as I recall, it was discounted into the $40s. 

After baking the chicken covered at ~400 degrees for 30 minutes, I uncovered it and allowed it to crisp slightly on top for the next 15 minutes.  At the last minute, I pulled the wine out of the cellar which runs around 56 degrees, allowed it to warm just a smidge for about 10 minutes and popped the cork.  Just as it should be, the wine was a honeyed gold color with scents of rich, creamy lemon and maybe a hint of citrus and almond.  It all hinted at a rich but not sweet white.  But it was at its best when paired with the creaminess of the Baja chicken.  Neither player dominated and the two played seamlessly off of one another.

But wait……there’s more…………After dinner, I sprayed the remaining wine with an Argon gas spray, recorked it tight and placed in the refridgerator.  Two days later, I pulled out some fresh Chilean Sea Bass from AJ’s for dinner (on sale through May 2nd), sprinkled on some dried lemon/garlic mix, baked it covered at 375 for 25 minutes and then uncovered it for 10 minutes.  At the last minute, I fried up some chorizo, sprinkling it on the sea bass and topped it with finely chopped cilantro.  I pan fried thin asparagus stalks in hot oil sprinkled with a dried herb/garlic mixture and topped it with some grated parmesan cheese.  I’ll bet you can guess which wine I decided to pair it with………………another great match and no wine left to spray…….