Wurst Wine and Food Pairing

I don't know if Wurst would be the first name I would come up with for a restaurant, but it is actually quite clever. Wurst in this case is from the traditional German food "bratwurst." It is a German sausage that is composed of either veal, pork, or beef.

Wurst is unique in that it appeals to many people. Located in the heart of Mission, Wurst is part Beer Hall and part elegant restaurant. Whatever you are looking for, they have something to suit your needs. Upstairs you will find an elegant restaurant suitable for the well dressed crowd. Descend a few stairs down and you will find yourself transported to a beer hall reminiscent of anything you will find in Germany, complete with a wall of beer steins that you can rent for the year that you can drink one of many ice cold beer in.

I thought a great way to discover Wurst was to go to a wine and food pairing and as always, I was right. Our little group was seated in a little area aide from the upstairs restaurant. Compiled of brown leather booths, wooden chairs and modern lighting, it had a masculinity to it that was quite fitting to a beer hall, but elegant enough to suit the occasion.

This wine and food pairing event was put on by a company called Vine and Dine. Linda Garson is the owner of this food and wine event company and I had actually met her a few years ago at another restaurant she was doing food and wine pairing events for. Linda now has her own company and works along side various restaurants, as well as writes for popular magazines and has even been seen on local television stations.

To start the 6 course meal, they served a Broxburn tomato and butter cheese salad with flash pickled cucumbers with an apple cider syrup. It was a nice light way to start the meal and I especially loved the pickled cucumbers and the refreshing dressing. The only thing I didn't like was that I thought there was a little too much cheese. Normally you can never have enough cheese, but it almost took away from the lightness of the salad. Paired with the salad was the Red Rooster Pinot Blanc from Canada. The apple notes in the wine went perfectly with the salad and knowing that it is a Canadian wine made it even better.

Next up was an apple and black sausage with rosti potatoes, fried egg and apple slaw. Fried eggs seem to be a big trend now. Wether they are on pizza's, salad's or sanwiches, they are always welcome. This was no exception. Nice and oozing in the middle, it mixed in very well with the rest of the dish. The black sausage was delicious and smoky and was a nice contrast to the sweet and crunchy apple slaw. This dish was paired with another Canadian wine, Sandhill Rose'. This rose has an excellent bouquet and pairs beautifully with eggs.

The third course of the night included more sausage and I have no qualms about that. We got to enjoy duck sausage, black trumpet mushrooms, bavarian cheese and jus. The dish smelled amazing and it looked so cute in the individual little pots, but I found that it did make it a little difficult to get all of the food out of the pot. I very much enjoyed the mushrooms and they added a nice rich element to the dish. This dish was paired with Tramin Pinot Nero, a nice light red wine from Italy that goes great with the mushrooms.


Next we got to enjoy something that we were all very curious about. Bavarian Wings. Boneless and pretzel breaded wings, stuffed with sausage and served with mustard sauce. I didn't even know that you could stuff wings! It was a very interesting dish, but I am sad to say that it wasn't my favorite. The concept was very different, but the flavors didn't impress. The sausage lacked seasoning and needed a bit more. The definitely favorite of everyone's for the dish was the mustard sauce. We all could have used a lot more of that. You can never go wrong with grainy mustard. Served with the stuffed wings was a full bodied Cabernet Franc from Tinhorn Creek, another Canadian Wine.

Our second last course was the traditional wiener schnitzel. I have to admit that I have never tried this dish before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was breaded veal schnitzel served with lemon, parsley and spatzle. The lemon was very predominat and it added a nice refreshing detail to the dish. I enjoyed the dish, but I wouldn't rush to have it again. Paired with this dish was the Reichsgraf Van Kesselstatt Kabinett Riesling from Germany.
Apparently this wine is as hard to find as it is to say.


And of course, no meal is complete without dessert. For the sixth and final course, we were served black forest cake. A very non-traditional version, but one I enjoyed more since it was a lot lighter than the traditional version. What liquer pairs the best with a cherry dessert? That would be a cherry liquer of course. Similar to Sambuca, we were served Luxardo Marashino liquer from Italy. This was served to us in shot glasses and was definitely a sipper. Not my favorite of the night, but I still managed to drink it all down.

As usual, I had a lot of fun at the food and wine pairing and it is an enjoyable way to discover a new restaurant. I will definitely visit Wurst again in the near future as there are some seafood dishes that are calling my name.

I was supposed to be putting up regular posts, but things have been pretty crazy for me lately and I just didn't have the time. I have been working 6 days a week and then on my one day off, I have been super busy and never home. I guess my body had enough of that because now I am sick. I guess that is my bodies way of saying that I need more sleep, I need to relax a little and I need to start posting regularly on my blog. Well I am finally listening and I am back to the one thing that I always makes me happy......... food!