New Recipe / New Wine

I tried a new recipe the other day, compliments of the New york Times.  The recipe was for roasted chicken parts on a bed of fennel.

If one is trying new recipes one should also try new wines so I opted for a 2006 Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger Riesling from Austria, the entry level Riesling from this producer.    I love their Gruner Veltliner and when I saw a markdown price on the Riesling a bottle came home with me.

First the wine.  Tart, tight, tons of minerality, some fruit, dry finish and moderate alcohol - all things I like.  The wine smelled like spring rain and tasted like almost sweet fruit.  There was just a touch of kerosene if one really wanted to look for it.  For $16 this wine was an excellent value.

The recipe was simple.  I sliced up a fresh fennel bulb and tossed it in a glass dish and doused it with olive oil and popped in a 425 degree oven for ten minutes.  I seasoned some chicken parts with salt and pepper, removed the dish from the oven and added them on top of the fennel.  I used a bulb baster and coated everything with oil.

The whole thing went back in the oven for another half hour, basting with chicken two more times with pan juices.  The photo below was taken between the seconded and third basting.

There was some fine grained, Kaljira rice to go with the chicken.

The wine really picked up the fennel taste in this dish and the fennel brought out a touch more sweetness in the wine.  It was a very interesting pairing and one I really liked.

There was one glass of the 2008 Kinkead Ridge Revelation white (see below) left in the fridge so I let it warm up a bit and tried it with the dish.  The herbaceous flavors in the wine really jumped with the fennel, and like it was with the Riesling the acid and tartness in the wine cut through the richness of the chicken.  I wouldn't hesitate to drink either wine with this dish again.

The finished plate is below with some chopped parsley and two lemon wedges.