Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa and a White Burgundy for Wine Pairing Weekend

I didn't set out to make this my "Refreshing Summer Wine Pairing" contribution for Wine Pairing Weekend 2 (#winePW).  But grilled salmon topped with fresh mango salsa certainly sounds summery and refreshing, doesn't it? And I hit it pretty lucky with the pairing. I had gotten a white Burgundy at a wine club dinner that I was curious to open. I basically thought it would have enough weight to work with the salmon, but didn't recall much about the details of the wine's taste.  As it turned out, it was summer in a glass and played perfectly with the mango salsa, and I had a refreshing summer pairing ready to share with you. Bonus feature: it's pretty easy to make! Here's how:

10 to 12 oz wild salmon fillet
tbsp olive olive oil

Salsa ingredients
4 tbsp mango, fruit chopped into small pieces
1 tbsp onion, minced
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Make the salsa: In a small bowl, combine the salsa ingredients through the cilantro. Gently stir in the lime juice and olive oil, then add salt and pepper to taste. Set bowl aside while you grill the fish. Note this is enough to serve two, but could easily be scaled up.

Grill the salmon: Spray the grill with oil spray to coat the area you will use for the salmon. Pre-heat grill to medium-high. Rinse and pat dry the salmon fillet, then spread the tbsp olive oil over the flesh side and sprinkle a bit of salt to taste. Place the salmon on the grill, skin side down. Grill covered for about 4 minutes, then gently turn the salmon to the flesh side. If the skin sticks to the grill, no big deal, just place the fish on a clean portion of the grill. Grill covered for another 3 to 4 minutes. It may be cooked at this point--cut a bit in the middle of the fillet to check. You still want a bit of the dark orange color for nice, moist salmon. If you want to cook a bit more, turn over one more time and cook for a couple more minutes. You don't want to overcook fish!

Remove the salmon to a platter when it's done on the grill, and let it rest for a couple minutes before serving.

Enjoy the pairing: Divide the salmon fillet and plate topped with a bit of the mango salsa. Offer additional salsa at the table--I kept scooping a bit more onto my salmon, it was such a good combination.

Now, taste the wine. I paired the grilled salmon with the 2012 Guffens-Heynen Macon-Pierreclos Le Chavigne from Burgundy . We got honey and clover on the nose. Nice fruit on the wine--cantaloupe perhaps? Also a touch of honey--the fruit and honey definitely made this taste like summer in a glass. Perhaps most notable was the depth of texture in this wine, providing a great mouthfeel and long finish. This really made the pairing work--the wine had just the right weight to go along with the salmon--not to light, not so big it would overwhelm. The flavors in the salsa flowed seamlessly with the fruit and honey taste of the wine.

I loved the wine, but it's not the style I tend to expect and seek in a white Burgundy. I typically gravitate toward an austere style with lots of minerality, and don't expect such ripe fruit as we had in this one. I guess this is just a reminder that great Burgundy can come in different styles! Our pairing worked great, but I would by no means make a general recommendation to pair Chardonnay with this dish--many chards would be too oaky and/or buttery to play nicely with the flavors in the mango salsa. For Chardonnay to work here, it needs to be one that really let's the fruit shine as our choice did. For a Burgundy, this one from Guffens-Heynen is a good value and worth tracking down--it seems to be available for around $30ish.

Wine Pairing Weekend #2 Bloggers: Be sure to check out the great pairings my fellow bloggers have come up with for the July Wine Pairing Weekend! 

Culinary Adventures with Camilla posted "Green Fig Ice Cream + Cambiata Albariño"
Vino Travels -- An Italian Wine Blog shared "Orzo salad and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo"
Curious Cuisiniere posted "Grilled Trout paired with a Tropical Fruit Viognier"
ENOFYLZ Wine Blog paired "Ceviche and Tablas Creek Picpoul Blanc"
Take a Bite Out of Boca shared "Grilled Mango-Sriracha Shrimp, Pineapple and Peppers paired with Burg Layer Schlosskapelle Spatlese Kerner"
foodwineclick shared "Steamers and Cava on the Porch"
Confessions of a Culinary Diva blogged about "Aperol Spritz"

Join the #winePW conversation: Follow the #winePW conversation on Twitter throughout the weekend and beyond. If you're reading this early enough, you can join us for a live Twitter chat on our theme "Refreshing Summer Wine Pairings" on Saturday, July 12, from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern Time. You can also visit our group Pinterest board to pin some great pairing ideas for later! Stay tuned for the August Wine Pairing Weekend, which will focus on "Wine for Summer's Bounty" on Saturday, August 9.