An Evening at YaYa’s

Recently, Bart and his wife were looking for an appetizer and a glass of wine, and they stopped in at the local Wichita favorite, YaYa’s Euro Bistro. With some help from their server and level 1 sommelier, Ash, they settled on the Calamari Fritti with the agrodolce sauce (read Italian sweet and sour sauce) and lemon aioli.

So, what wines to pair with that? Bart ordered a glass of the Sea Sun Chardonnay 2021 from California. This was a very nice, classic Chardonnay that was a little floral, but it also smelled and tasted of fresh white peaches and apricots. It also delivered on the creaminess you expect to find in a California Chardonnay. Even on its own, this was a very nice Chardonnay.

Paired with the calamari, this Chardonnay truly held its own. The acid in the wine (that’s the part that makes your mouth water) and the creaminess balanced the calamari beautifully, especially with the lemon aioli sauce!

Bart’s wife, Melissa, is a red-wine lover, so she ordered the Wente Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021. They found this to be a wonderful example of a food-friendly California Cabernet, with layers of fresh blackberry and black cherry, as well as some hints of vanilla bean and chocolate from the well-integrated oak.

This wasn’t as big and bold as some of her favorite Cabs (Melissa is a big fan of the really big California Cabs), but she was pleasantly surprised with how well this went with her calamari. Being softer than some Cabs, it paired well with the meatiness of this calamari. Though Cabs are not typically suggested as a seafood pairing, this Wente really seemed to work. And as we’ve said before, regardless of what the “correct food pairings” are, the answer is to drink what you like, when you want to, and don’t apologize for it!