Downtown Duluth restaurant Alto Pino uses a sommelier to select wines that work well seasonally and with the specific dishes on the menu.
Downtown Duluth restaurant Alto Pino uses a sommelier to select wines that work well seasonally and with the specific dishes on the menu.
That sommelier is Anna O’Halloran-Johnson, who dove into a favorite rosé made with 100 percent xinomavro grapes. It’s made by a Greek winery, Thymiopoulos.
“What I really like about xinomavro is versatility,” she said. “So besides red, rosé, it can also be made into sparkling, sweet wines. But it’s also very versatile as far as a food pairing wine.”
The rosé has flavors of white nectarine.
“So this is really great for summer,” O’Halloran-Johnson said. “It’s wonderful at a barbecue, especially grilled vegetables or salads, fish. It’s also wonderful with all your lovely produce from the garden and some nice cheese.”
That’s where Alto Pino’s Chef Lauren Aldinger comes in. She made one of the restaurant’s best-selling appetizers, seared halloumi, with fresh grilled peaches, honey, basil, and spices.
She pan sears the halloumi in oil.
“People often say it’s like a cross between feta from a moisture perspective, which I agree with, and then like a super hard squeaky cheese,” Aldinger said.
She serves it on top of braised ouzo onions, then tops it with the grilled peaches, honey, basil, Aleppo pepper, and Maldon salt.
