by Sonia Meyer

“If you mix yellow and blue together, you get green,” explained Matt Cain, founder and president of Yellow+Blue Wines, when I asked him at San Francisco’s Millennium Restaurant where the name of his wine came from. Millennium, like the winery, is dedicated to sustainable, organic farming methods that have a minimal impact on the environment — the perfect place for a special Yellow+Blue wine pairing dinner.

Yellow+Blue Wines are more than an eyebrow-raiser when it comes to packaging, because a lot of careful consideration went into the “boxy” appearance. They designed it to be as earth friendly as possible.

We started with Yellow+Blue’s 09’ Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. It’s paired with chilled asparagus and English pea soup. Truly a match made in heaven. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be “fresh.” The wine was floral, tannic, easy to dr ink, and well balanced, with a great mouth feel. Another glass? Don’t mind if I do.

Next was the 09’ Torrontes from Cafayate, Argentina, paired with chickpeas and almond-crusted oyster mushrooms. The Torrontes brought out rich nutty and coconut spices in the dish.

The third course was a mushroom duxelle roulade paired with the 08’ Malbec from San Juan, Argentina. The richness of the wine embraced the buttery, flaky pastry, and the dark-fruit component of the wine brought out the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes.

For the grand finale, I had Millennium’s infamous chocolate almond midnight cake was rich and creamy, just like the Malbec I was chasing it down with. The pairing was an exceptional combination.

Perhaps the best thing about Yellow+Blue is that you never can tell when the box is empty. How much is left remains a mystery, so you never have that awkward moment of taking the last glass!