2013 Domaine de la Perrière Sancerre & 3 Guys Pizza Pies

Irish mythology has a concept called geis. It's a sort of rule/curse that if the hero violates the geis, something bad will happen. It's how Cú Chulainn bit the dust, because he had two conflicting geasa: he couldn't refuse the gift of a meal, but he couldn't eat dog meat. One day he was offered some roast hound, and he was trapped in an impossible position. He didn't die right away, but by breaking the taboo he was weakened and it's all wrapped up in some love triangle drama with Emer and Lugaid and was soon killed in battle.

Editor's Note: BWR does not condone the eating of dog but the author is making a point that will become clear soon, and ancient Ireland was a weird place.

I'm not an absolutist on wine and food pairing, and I often like to mix things up to see how they work. But I do have a personal geis that I don't break. When presented with a bottle of Sancerre, I'm going to eat seafood, and preferably oysters. There's just something about that Loire valley Sauvignon Blanc that is so distinct from how the grape is expressed everywhere else on the globe, and I just love it with any seafood that actually tastes fishy or salty. No bland cod, give me marinated mackerel.

2013 Domaine de la Perrière Sancerre
Sancerre AOC
100% Sauvignon Blanc
$25, 12% abv.

This bottle is light and lemony with a gentle body and a mild finish. Faint floral notes on the nose as it warms up, but overall a subtle and well-balanced wine that delivered the reliable and enjoyable experience that I've always experienced from this little part of France. So what did I pair with it?

A local pizza place called 3 Guys Pizza Pies offers something called the Vampire Killer: red onions, feta cheese, minced garlic, kalamata olives, and anchovies. I get it without the onions, but they're one of the few places that I trust with anchovies (the fishies are always large, taste freshly opened, and are not treated as the punchline to a joke).

The photo from a month ago shows the pizza at the bar with a pint of Ghost River beer (I toured the brewery in 2009), but this weekend I picked up another and had it with the Sancerre. And the pairing was amazing. Granted, it's on the salty side, and afterwards nobody is going to want to kiss you, but the fish, olives, and cheese all work together well with a wine that has just the right amount of acidity and a hint of minerality.

Note: This wine was provided as a sample for review.