So we cook dinner most nights. We also drink wine. Sometimes, we manage to do both simultaneously.  And sometimes we don’t regret it.  Why not share our marginally passable pairings with you, the internet?

This Fall, we grew a sea of pie pumpkins. Last week our squash went into a beer (read here). This week, we work pumpkins into a cozy cream sauce with squash ravioli.

Ingredients:

1 whole pie pumpkin – ravioli (preferably fresh, and squash or cheese) –  1 once butter – 3 cloves garlic – 2 cups whole milk – 2 teaspoons salt – 2 teaspoons cardamom – 2 tablespoons flour – 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger – Parmesan to finish

Preheat oven to 350 F. Skin and chop pie pumpkin into two inch squares. Bake on greased pan until golden and smelling amazing. Meanwhile, start water boiling. Also melt butter in a sauce pan add finely chopped garlic. Once garlic is brown, set heat to low, add one cup milk and two tablespoons of flour to sauce pan.  Stir frequently.  Add in pumpkin chunks. Use hand-blender or fork until it integrates with cream.  Add more milk or flour to maintain creamy texture.  Don’t forget to boil the pasta (ravioli takes forever). Since pumpkin doesn’t taste like much, follow the way of the Starbucks P.S.L, add 2 teaspoons of cardamom and 2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger.  Taste the dang thing and add salt until satisfied. Plate and grate fresh Parmesan all over the place.

Now for the wine.

With Fall foods, my heart turns to old French whites. Today, we luckily have a 1998 Aligote from Pierre Morey from Burgundy (17.90).

APPEARANCE: Brilliantly clear, pale gold, with thin, washing legs, and a long colorless rim.

AROMAS: Sulfur leads but clears in 30 minutes.  Lemon pith, dried verbena, white rose, and wax waft about with medium plus intensity.

PALATE: Bone dry, medium plus acidity is there but somehow mellowed, soft. Alcohol a mild medium 12% providing a slight viscosity and a medium body, with a plump little core.

FLAVORS: Medium intense soft lemon curd, vanilla powder, and wax last a long, long, long length. It reminds me of an unsweetened lemon cream pie.

Morey’s 1998 Aligote is very good (4 of 5) and drinking beautifully now and for the next 2 years. Acidity ensures its knife-like edge can cut through the rich pumpkin sauce and fresh squash ravioli. Meanwhile, tertiary notes of wax and vanilla meld seamlessly with the nuttiness of the gourds.  If you can’t find an obscure, 17 year old wine, a moderately oaky Chardonnay or a dry Sherry could also do wonders.