I am not very good at pairing wines with green salads.

There's a salad I particularly enjoy with goat cheese crumbles, candied walnuts, and a light balsamic vinagrette dressing.

Historically I've paired a glass of champagne (usually Veuve) with it and have enjoyed the combination.

What other options should I consider?

Short, personally, I love a sturdy, not over oakes Chardonnay with goat cheese. I know Sauvignon Blanc (Sancerre) is a classic pairing and that would work well too. Since good aged Burgundies can sometimes pick up a nutty quality (hazelnuts), that's the direction I tend to go.
When I first tasted the '99 Kistler Vine Hill Chard, I had a simple salad w/ goat cheese and a vidalia onion dressing (Ken's). It was wonderful.

jb

Green salads are simply not good vehicles to pair wines with - my goal is just to survive the course. Since your salad has goat cheese, I would drink a Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc with it. Champagne is always a fine choice as well.

Jones, you need to 'survive' salad?

Or you need to survive it since it usually does not involve wine?

By "survive" I meant not screw up the palate so much that courses after the salad are ruined/harmed. For a big wine matching dinner party, I usually just refrain from serving a salad course.

Hmmm, I wonder if this is the reason for the french custom of serving the salad later in the meal as opposed to up front?

eric-- makes sense know that you say it

Jones, so what do you start with -- a few appetizer courses? Soups?

When I cook I generally prepare three courses only. An appetizer (rarely soup or salad), a main course, and a dessert/cheese course. Call me a traditionalist. There really is no typical menu. I also prefer a traditional wine progression of white to red to dessert. My dinner party last Saturday had the following menu:

Tomato confit and Dungenes crab napoleon with cilantro and Cowgirl Creamery creme fraiche. (Served with 2001 Sine Qua Non Pagan Poetry Rose and 1998 Larrivet Haut Brion.) Crab season just opened last Friday.

Niman Ranch beef tenderloin with mole, cashew vinegrette, and carmelized apples/red pearl onions/dried cherries. (Served with 1999 Araujo Eisele Syrah and 1999 Araujo Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon.)

From Neal's Yard Dairy: Durrus, Montgomery Cheddar, and Colston-Bassett Stilton. I included a very ripe raw sheep's milk Shepard's Wheel from Upstate New York as well. (Served with 1998 Peller Estates Limited Edition Founder’s Series Trinity Ice Wine, 2000 Warre's Vintage Port, and 2000 Tait Barossa Valley Basket Press Shiraz.) I am very lucky to live within walking distance of a nationally recognized affineur - Artisan Cheese.

Not to go off topic, but Jones are the 99 Araujo Cab TN's forthcoming?

I am only posting a portion of the TNs I draft. The rest will find there way into an edition of the newsletter. I posted the 99 Syrah note so I kept the 99 Cab one in reserve.

Walking distance, Jones?! Ah, you are SOOOOOO lucky.

So, when do I get my invite for your next dinner? (just kidding! )