Omnivore - By the glass at...Abattoir

• Jimmy Sobeck

Editor’s note: This week, we add to our booze coverage with a new feature, By the glass. Each week, we’ll feature one restaurant, one wine, and one dish, in the hopes that it will shed some light on wines you can drink at eateries around town, and the foods that pair best with them. Helping me in this endeavor will be Jimmy Sobeck, who has his own Atlanta food blog, Eat It Atlanta. I’m incredibly happy to welcome Jimmy to Omnivore. If you have any feedback about our coverage, new or otherwise, or if you’d like to recommend a wine or cocktail to be featured, please email me at besha.rodell@creativeloafing.com. Cheers! - Besha Rodell

By the glass at: Abbatoir (1170 Howell Mill Rd, 404-892-3335. www.starprovisions.com)

The dish: Cured Scottish salmon

The wine: ’08 Scherer pinot blanc

The pairing: Acid plus acid equals smooth

Westside’s genteel house-o-offal Abattoir offers a small by-the-glass selection (five whites, five reds), and includes the ’08 Scherer pinot blanc. A relatively sparsely planted grape from Alsace in northwest France, the nose made me initially think of chardonnay, though the floral aroma and hint of almond quickly distinguished this wine. This full-bodied and overly tart pinot blanc screamed of green apples with a touch of spice, and had a remarkably long and rich finish.

Sommelier (and general manager) Kristine Lassor recommended the Scherer with a cured Scottish salmon small plate. The fish was only lightly cured, remaining very tender with an almost sashimi-like texture. The dish was scattered with fennel, small green and red tomatoes, cucumber, celery leaf, and lemon verbena. “The cured salmon had a lot of acid on the dish, so I chose a wine from the old world, since they are generally higher in acid“, said Lassor. “Salmon is a fuller flavored fish with some fat content, so I still wanted to pair a wine that had some weight and complexity”.