Cedar Plank Sugar and Spice Salmon & Rainstorm Wine

Take your dinner up a notch…Rainstorm Wines is pairing up with Copper River Salmon this season.  This long anticipated, highly prized, and VERY delicious salmon is getting a touch of Oregon vibrancy with a perfectly paired trio of wines: Rainstorm Pinot Noir, Rainstorm Pinot Gris, and the all-new Rainstorm Silver Linings Rosé. If you are unaware, Copper River Salmon is highly sought after among salmon lovers, it’s just that delicious.  I’m happy for any excuse to eat some salmon, pair it with a great glass of Pinot and it’s almost as good as being on an Alaskan cruise 😉

Typically I would choose a Pinot Noir to drink with my salmon (I learned that pairing advice from a sommelier aboard one of our cruises), but the taste notes of any of the three Rainstorm Pinots pair excellently with it.Rainstorm Pinot Noir: Red berries, soft and elegant with flavors of bright cherry and pomegranate.
Rainstorm Pinot Gris: Crisp pear, melon and honey blossom, some yeasty character from sur lies aging.
Rainstorm Silver Linings Rosé: Dry with refreshing acidity and notes of strawberry, rose petals and pomegranate seeds.

For this Cedar Plank Sugar and Spice Salmon I made, I poured the new Rainstorm Silver Linings Rosé.  It seemed to fit 🙂  When in doubt about which kind of wine to serve for dinner, a good bet is to serve a red with red meat, a white with white meat.  Generally that would mean serving a white wine with fish…but wait, salmon is… sort of red..kind of pink (well okay there’s a reason they named a color salmon, and salmon is why!).. So I think a Pinot Noir Rosé is the best of white and red.  And the Rainstorm Rosé did not disappoint when paired with the Sugar and Spice Salmon.

Do you want to know a secret?  This is the first time I’ve ever made salmon at home!  I was a bit anxious and a wee bit scared as I’ve also never used a cedar plank before either.  I had images of our deck burning up along with our grill and a hunk of charbroiled salmon.  But it turned out terrific.  And since our daughter snarfed down the leftovers the next day, I’m confident that I’ll be making this again before the rivers run dry of salmon for another season.

Cedar Plank Sugar and Spice Salmon
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons tarragon
  • 2¼ teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Oil (optional)
  • 24 oz. of boneless salmon
  • 1 Cedar Grilling Plank
Instructions
  1. Soak cedar plank under water for at least one hour.
  2. Stir sugar, tarragon, paprika, pepper, basil, and garlic powder together until well combined.
  3. Brush the salmon with a little bit of oil if you want (not too much or it will get crispy) if not just skip to the next step.
  4. Distribute the rub over the salmon, and pat down.
  5. Heat grill to 350 degrees, add soaked plank to grill rack, close cover, heat 3 minutes and flip plank.
  6. Add salmon to heated plank, close cover. Grill about 10 to 15 minutes.

Cedar Plank Sugar and Spice Salmon - make it on the grill or in the ovenYou can experience the pairing of #RainstormSalmon too this summer.   To take your dinner up a notch, find more recipes at pinotpassion.com/recipes and be sure to follow on facebook.com/PinotPassion.  Plus look for the specials in your supermarket wine and seafood aisles for $1 – $3 off offers.I received media samples of products mentioned for the purpose of this post.

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