Every Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine that exceeds its normal £10 ($20) threshold with one great meal, prepared following the instructions of some the Internet’s best food blogs.

This week’s ‘Blow the Bank’ comes courtesy of Son, the Single Guy Chef, and his delectable Scallops Wrapped with Serrano Ham and New Baby Potatoes with Paprika Vinaigrette.

At the beginning of August, InterWined questioned the overproduction of Sauvignon Blanc, noting that both New Zealand’s Oyster Bay and California’s Berigner seemed disappointingly samey. Given the profound affect that geography (soil, sun, climate) has on wine grapes, wines from New Zealand should not naturally taste like wines from California. It asked readers to venture beyond the global brands and seek out less predictable examples of one of the world’s most popular grapes.

Thus, when InterWined chose to prepare one of the Single Guy Chef’s favourite recipes, it decided to follow its own advice and chose 2005 Santa Rita Floresta Sauvignon Blanc from Leyda in Chile (£9.99 at Waitrose/$25 online at Primo Vino.net).

While Chile might be the world’s 5th largest wine exporter with big brands like Concha y Toro and Cousino-Macul to wave its flag, it is not yet one of the top producers. For the 2003, it ranked bottom of the top 11 wine-producing nations, just behind Portugal, Germany, and — surprisingly — 6th place China. (Santa Rita ranks somewhere in the middle in terms of production and export; its 120 label its most ubiquitous.)

Fortunately, InterWined’s fears were largely unfounded. Straw in colour, the 2005 Floresta has a gentle nose of fruit and blades of grass making it seem fairly typical of French Sauvignon Blanc and less citric than New Zealand ones often taste. InterWined might almost be forgiven for saying that it tasted of gooseberry — a long-time signature of classic Sauvignon Blanc that seems to be slowly being replaced by a more acidic, lemony flavour; and a fruit with which only celebrity wine tasters seem adequately familiar. InterWined certainly isn’t. However, what made this Sauvignon Blanc special was its bizarre after-taste: juicy, green grape skins the likes of which you play with on your tongue when peeling grapes in your mouth. A perfect partner to the fleshy deliciousness of the scallop.

The Single Guy Chef’s Recipe in Full

Scallops Wrapped with Serrano Ham and New Baby Potatoes with Paprika Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
3 fresh day boat scallops
3 slices of Serrano ham
2 cups of baby red and purple potatoes
3 TBs. of Sherry vinegar or Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup of chopped shallots
1/4 cup of butter
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Paprika Vinaigrette:
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. For the vinaigrette, combine first 8 ingredients in blender or processor and blend until well combined and frothy. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

2. Place the potatoes in a medium sauce pan and fill with cold water to cover the potatoes. Add 1 TBs. of salt to water and boil until potatoes are just fork tender. Drain and cut into 1/4″ rounds. Toss with paprika vinaigrette to taste and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Preheat a medium pan on medium-high heat. Add 1 TBs. of olive oil and coat the pan.

4. Wrap the scallops with Serrano ham and use a toothpick to secure the ham. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sauté the scallops 1-2 mins. per side depending on thickness. The scallops I had are 2″ thick so it was 2 mins. per side. Remove from pan and set aside.

5. Keep the pan hot, deglaze with sherry vinegar and make sure to scrape up the little brown bits.

6. Add the shallots and sauté for 2 mins.

7. Add the butter and keep the heat on until the butter begins to foam and turn a nutty brown color. Turn off heat.

Plating:

1. Place a scallop on each plate and stack a mix of potato rounds.

2. Drizzle with paprika vinaigrette and brown butter sauce.

Due to differing availability of ingredients between the USA and UK, InterWined substituted truffle potatoes for red and blue baby potatoes; because it forgot to buy dry mustard, it used a teaspoon of French mustard with basil

Download & Print Recipe

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