Pair It Up! Family Recipes

I love this new article in Western Living Magazine: My Dad’s Spaghetti: Family Recipes from the West’s Best Chefs. It features family recipes from some of BC and Alberta's best chefs including: Daniel Costa, Brad Holmes, Angus An, Jonathan Chovancek, and Matt Batey. I thought I'd attempt a quick wine suggestion for each—a sort of speed dating for sommeliers.

Spaghetti with Anchovy and Pangrattato - Daniel talks about making this dish late at night with his father, and drinking what was probably the perfect pairing - a small glass of homemade wine mixed with 7UP. A fresh and minerally white like Sancerre or Arneis would also work well with the anchovies, pecorino, and garlic flavours. Try: Moon Curser 2014 Arneis.

Hot Smoked Salmon - Brad cures and smokes his own salmon and serves it on grilled bread with pickled shallots, crème fraÎche and nasturtiums. The fish picks up a little sweetness from birch syrup and smokiness from the alder chips. Sparkling rosé anyone? Try: Summerhill Pyramid Winery NV Cipes Rosé.

Fat Mao Sesame Noodles - Angus' food is one of the things I miss the most about Vancouver. This is a fresh bowl of noodles that has prominent sesame flavours mixed with raw and compressed veggies. Rich Chardonnays tend to work well with sesame, but we need one with lots of acid to match the acidity in the dish. Try: Little Farm 2014 Mulberry Tree Vineyard.

Anastasia Perogies - I wrote about pairing wine with perogies on the My Wine Canada Blog back in August. Jonathan's look infinitely better than the freezer aisle batch I made, but besides his having more spice from the chorizo, I think the general flavours are similar. This, without a doubt, is Riesling territory. I'd go for something with a touch of sweetness, but still high on the acidity scale. Try: Back 10 Cellars 2013 The Big Reach Riesling.

Dinner Pancakes - Matt gives us a perfect breakfast for dinner in buttermilk pancakes topped with a fried egg. A glass of orange juice, or a nice cup of coffee are laudable suggestions. But what about Champagne? Dessert wine? Try: Fort Berens 2013 Late Harvest Riesling.

Jake Skakun is a writer and sommelier from Vancouver, currently living in Toronto. He can be found most days pulling corks and twisting caps at the Black Hoof. He Tweets and Instagrams @jakeskakun.