PAIRING: Roessler pinot a friend to food

Our Wine of the Week, Roessler 2007 Bluejay Anderson Valley Pinot Noir ($32), is a generous wine that gives freely of its pleasures, filling the mouth with juicy ripe flavors suggestive of both Ranier and Bing cherries, ripe black raspberries and Santa Rosa plum.

Underneath the fruit flavors are myriad other tastes, earthy black trumpet mushrooms, dried tobacco, clove, allspice, white pepper, a bit of Mexican chocolate and the slightest hint of sweet citrus zest. The wine lingers on the palate, with hints of caramel and briar.

There’s another quality, too, that some people will call mineral though to me it is closer to the vapors given off by volcanic rock after a warm rain.

You might call this a confident, gregarious wine; it reminds me of those friends I can take anywhere, knowing they will be at ease whether or not they know anyone. This wine is like that, comfortable in its own skin and eager to get to know you. It will appeal to fans of syrah and Rhone blends as well as to anyone interested in exploring the entire spectrum of pinot noir.

When it comes to foods, you have a lot of choices as the wine has a broad embrace. Mushrooms — in soups, pastas and risottos — are a great match, especially if you let them have center stage.

Wild rice with pine nuts and honey vinaigrette, grilled eggplant with Italian fontina and sweet summer tomatoes with smoked mozzarella and fresh basil are all excellent companions. Slow-cooked pork, grilled lamb and certain cuts of beef — hanger steak, for example — and that increasingly rare local treasure, wild Pacific king salmon, will dazzle carnivores when served with this wine alongside.

For today’s recipe, I’ve chosen a seasonal favorite, as local cherries should start to ripen any time now. Cherries and duck are natural companions and when you add a rich pinot noir such as this one you have as happy a menage à trois as you can imagine.

But a word of caution is in order. If you don’t have duck magret, you can use other duck breast, such as our local Liberty Duck, but you will need to reduce the cooking time considerably, to about 3 to 4 minutes per side on the grill and no time at all in the oven. Duck breast must be served rare or medium rare.

Grilled Duck Breast

with Cherries

and Wild Rice

Makes 3 to 4 servings

»cup wild rice

—Kosher salt

1whole duck breast, preferably magret (see Note below)

2garlic cloves

2whole cloves

½teaspoon whole white peppercorns

—Zest of 1 orange

2tablespoons butter

1small shallot, minced

2cups (about 8 ounces) pitted ripe Bing or Ranier cherries, halved

¾cup dry red wine

—Black pepper in a mill

1teaspoon minced fresh tarragon, optional

4small orange wedges

Put the rice in a strainer, rinse it under cool water and transfer it to a medium saucepan. Add a teaspoon of kosher salt and 2½ cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Immediately reduce the heat so that the water simmers gently; cover and cook until the rice is tender but not mushy; only a portion of the grains will appear to have rolled back or “popped.” Remove from the heat and let rest, covered.

Meanwhile, set the duck on a work surface and cut it down the middle to separate the two pieces of meat. Trim away excess fat and skin, leaving the skin directly on top of each breast in place. Use a sharp knife to score the fat, making diagonal slashes down to but not through the meat about 1 inch apart. Set aside.

Put the garlic cloves into a suribachi, add a pinch of salt and crush with a wooden pestle until the garlic is nearly liquified. Add the whole cloves and the white peppercorns, crush and mix with the garlic. Add half the orange zest and several pinches of salt. Rub the paste all over the meat, cover with a sheet of wax paper and set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small saute pan set over medium low heat, add the shallot and saute until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes; do not let it brown. Add the cherries, toss and saute about 2 minutes. Add the wine, increase the heat to high and cook until the wine is reduced by two-thirds, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining orange zest and season with salt and black pepper. Remove from the heat.

When the wild rice is about half done, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and heat a stove top grill. Grill the duck breast, skin side up, for 7 minutes, turn and grill for 3 minutes. Use tongs to rotate the breast 90 degrees and grill for 4 minutes more, or until the skin is nicely browned. Transfer the duck to a sturdy pan, set in the oven and cook for 7 minutes more. Remove from the oven, cover lightly with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.

Warm 4 dinner plates.

Set the cherries over low heat, toss and heat through.

To serve, cut the duck into diagonal slices about ¼-inch thick.

Divide the wild rice among the plates; fan slices of duck on the plate, draping them over the rice.

Working quickly, put the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan with the cherries, swirl until it just melts, taste and correct for salt and pepper. Spoon the cherries and the pan juices over the duck and the wild rice.

Garnish with tarragon, if using, and an orange wedge and serve immediately.

Note: Duck magret is from Moulard ducks and they are both larger and more flavorful than most other duck. You can order magret locally from Artisan Foie Gras at 938-1229 or through the company’s Web site, www.artisanfoiegras.com.