Top Pair: Breaking Tradition with Emilie Perrier of Ai Fiori

Inspired by Nantucket Bay scallops, Chef PJ Calapa’s preparation amps up the luxury quotient while allowing the delicate sweetness of the scallop to shine. He chooses to highlight the classic pairing of scallops with black truffle—a luxurious surf and turf. A celery root purée is studded with earthy black truffles to counter the succulent fruits de mer, which Calapa dresses in brown butter; the nuttiness wraps the dish together. Topped with bright celery leaf and frisée tossed in bone marrow vinaigrette, the dish is an ode to timing and balance: bay scallop season is long gone, but memories of this dish linger.

The trouble with perfectly balanced dishes is they don’t always need a wine’s acidity or earth notes to complete them. Hence the challenge for the sommelier—to complement the dish without overwhelming it. But a seasoned pro like Emilie Perrier is full of surprises, and up to the challenge. She first poured Knez Winery Pinot Noir. (We’re open to the idea of red wine with seafood, but a Frenchwoman serving American Pinot? Sacre bleu!)

The combination of fish, bone marrow, and brown butter is meaty and sweet, making red wine an ideal choice. “Some rich whites could work, but I like to surprise people and also show something they wouldn't expect,” explains Perrier. She considers the lightly fruity and aromatic Pinot as somewhat Burgundian (notes of truffles and roses), as well as fragrant and generous in flavor. Perrier likes the juicy cherry-like acidity in the Knez Pinot and further describes it as “feminine—a light red wine with a light seafood composition is elegant and different.” We love the faintly sweet notes in the wine that enhance the natural sugars in the scallops while the earthy tones play well with the root vegetables and anchor the dish in the savory world.

Stamped Corzetti are traditional Ligurian pasta. Richer than other pastas, this dough is made using only egg yolks instead of whole eggs. For this dish, Calapa creates a free-form "lasagna” with layers of pasta, duck confit, and hen of the woods mushrooms. He sears the duck and braises the mushrooms and tosses them with beurre fondue, rosemary, and mirepoix. Balanced delicately on a base of lemony ricotta, parmesan, and black pepper, Calapa builds the dish with the corzetti, mushrooms, and duck and finishes it with brown butter and chicken jus.

Perrier’s pairing this time around was more conventional but surprising nonetheless. She balances a dish rooted in tradition with a modern-style Tuscan blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Sangiovese. She explains that the wine’s smooth and dry notes of oak and fresh black currants focus the gamey flavor of the duck, and it “pairs softly with the lemony ricotta, and overall, brings a nice herbal spice to the duck jus.”