Food and Wine Are Made for Each Other

I'm not generally a fan of posts about pairings (especially when they focus on what wines to pair with some cultural phenomenon a la American Idol contestants). But lately I have had a series of great meals that were intensely enhanced by the wine selection. Since I often taste wines either at a designated tasting, or in a neutral environment for the blog I've been struck by how important the relationship between wine and food is. I'm mentioning below a few food and wine pairings that have made me happy recently, with the hope that you will suggest a few of your own. After all, the whole point of having great wine is to enhance a particular experience (or be an experience on it's own). Here are mine, please share yours in the comments:

- at Local: Mission Eatery in San Francisco I had chicken liver mousse, corn chowder with dungeness crab, and grilled squid with Lioco Indica (carignane, and petite sirah). The restraint in the Lioco made your mouth water for more of the fresh, local flavors of Local.

- at Radhika's Modern Indian Bistro in South Pasadena we ate Chicken Tikka Masala (spicy) with Trimbach Riesling from Alsace. Much to our delight the acid of the wine cut through the heat from the curry and made everyone at the table smile.

- at Urban Tavern in San Francisco, braised beef short ribs and Qupe Central Coast Syrah 2008. Awesome melting richness in the ribs met a earthy, but fruity balance in the syrah that made the whole experience delicious.

What food/wine combinations have you had recently that just made you happy to be enjoying the experience?