I thought I would offer you more suggestions for wine and food pairings for Valentine’s Day. I picked two wines from the four wines I received from Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery in Creston to cook with salmon with shrimp stuffed pinwheels that I purchased from Fisherman’s Market in the Burnaby Heights area. The Baillie-Grohman wines are available at BC Liquor Stores.
The two wines I picked to pair are the Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery Florence Rosé 2021 and the Récolte Blanche 2021. The Rosé is made from Pinot Noir grapes while the Recolte Blanche is a white blend from French and German grapes. The Rosé is dry while the blend is a bit sweeter than off-dry.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery Florence Rosé 2021 (BC $20.99)
From the winery, “This Rosé is made from Pinot Noir grapes grown on the slopes of our home block…The hand harvested Pinot Noir grapes were destemmed, crushed and left to macerate for 3 days before pressing, giving the wine its beautiful colour. Fermentation took place in a stainless-steel tank and was kept at a cool temperature to retain the primary fruit profile of the wine.”
Appearance: A medium-minus intensity clear sockeye salmon colour.
Nose: Very light aromas of rhubarb, red fruit, and red cherries. With decanting the aromas were still very light but now primarily strawberries with lesser amounts of rhubarb, red fruit, and red cherries.
Palate: Dry and soft with a light acidic prickle. Medium-plus body and flavour intensity. Flavours of red and black currants, red fruits, and rhubarb, along with black currant leaf. The wine also has some steeliness. The wine becomes much smoother with less acidic prickle with decanting. Strawberries and red fruit flavours primarily with less rhubarb, red currants and leafiness. The steeliness is also lessened.
Finish: Medium length finishing with red fruit, bitter leafiness, and a touch of pepperiness. The finish has the same red fruit flavour, but no pepperiness and less bitter leaf. The wine also finishes very smooth.
I’d give this wine a short decant to bring out the strawberry aroma and flavour in the wine and get a bit smoother and less bitter leaf.
Rating: 
with decanting. A medium-minus salmon colour. Light intensity aromas with strawberries most, along with lesser rhubarb, red fruit and red cherries. Dry, soft and round. Red fruit and strawberries flavours with lesser amounts of rhubarb, red currants, and leafiness.
Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery Récolte Blanche 2021 (BC $18.49)
From the winery, “Récolte Blance is a blend of Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Schoenburger, Chardonnay & Kerner. The fruit parcels were hand harvested separately. Each variety was then fermented as a single batch in stainless steel tanks at a cool temperature which protects the aromatics and fruit dimensions in the wine. Once fermentation was complete the parcels were blended to create a wine with an intense fruit profile.”
Appearance: A bright, medium intensity lemon + straw colour.
Nose: A quite pronounced nose with aromas of sweet citrus, lemon and lime, apricot and spearmint to start, then with swirling you get tropical fruit and white flower aromas. Lychee and tropical fruit really come out with decanting, and you still get lime, spearmint and white flower aromas as well.
Palate: A little sweeter than off-dry. Smooth and round with acidic prickle. Tropical fruit plus lime and a touch of peach flavour, and then spearmint added with some air. The wine has some steeliness toward the finish. The wine stays smooth and round, but has less acidic prickle. Primarily tropical fruit, along with lesser amounts of lychee, peach, lime, and spearmint.
Finish: A medium-plus length finishing with lingering tropical fruit flavours, plus some pepperiness and lime. The acidic prickle continues to the finish as well. You still get lingering tropical fruit flavour with decanting, but the pepperiness and acidic prickle is reduced.
I think the just opened bottle showed more aromas and flavours and had higher acidity to make the wine lively. With decanting the tropical fruit aromas and flavours came out, but you lost some of the acidic prickle. I’d open the bottle and enjoy.
Rating: 
– A medium intensity mix of lemon and straw colour. Sweet aromas with a mix of lime, tropical fruit, spearmint and white flowers. More than off-dry, medium-plus body, round and smooth mouthfeel. Tropical fruit with touches of peach and spearmint on the palate. Some steeliness toward the finish.
Wine and Food Pairing
The Sockeye salmon pinwheels with shrimp stuffing, sold by Fisherman’s Market, are Canadian made by Coastal Waters and are Ocean Wise. I tried the two wines with the salmon pinwheels shortly after opening the bottles. So I would not say that the wines had any decant time. I did this as I assumed that most people would open either of these two bottles as soon as the pinwheels come out of the oven and are served.
The salmon with shrimp filling (a mixture of ground shrimp, cream cheese, and herbs) was very easy to cook. Just thaw and bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes. The pinwheel was rolled in fresh dill, which is always a nice flavour accompaniment to salmon. You get the creaminess and herbs from the filling, plus the texture and flavour of the salmon and then the dill to make this dish so flavourful. For my side dish, I steamed bok choy split in half and coated with sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and pepper. I put a few slices of fresh ginger in the water as it steamed the bok choy. I also cooked rice and added vegetable broth for extra flavour.
I was worried about the off-dry plus sweetness of the Récolte Blanche that it would not go as well with the salmon, but I was wrong. It was a splendid pairing. I liked the sweetness of this wine paired with the creaminess of the filling and the dill flavour. The Gewurztraminer character in the wine went so well with the sesame oil on the bok choy. A recommended pairing.
You may not be a white wine person, so I have the Rosé wine option for you. It made a very good pairing with the salmon pinwheel but not quite as good as the Recolte Blanche. The red fruit flavour from the wine brought out the dill flavour in the pinwheel. The acidity in the wine made the pairing lively. The flavours in the wine overall were complimentary with the sesame oil on the bok choy.
Where Can I Buy These Wines and the Salmon Pinwheels?
The salmon pinwheels come from Fisherman’s Market which has several branches across BC. In the Lower Mainland, there is one in Burnaby and one in West Vancouver.
The Rosé is currently out of stock at the winery, but you can purchase it through BC Liquor Stores. The Récolte Blanche is also available at BC Liquor Stores.
Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!
