Odd Pair: Fried Green Tomatoes and Cuvee

Last Thursday, Katharine Shilcutt got us desperately scrambling to find some good fried green tomatoes before the summer ends (soft weeping). We found ourselves at the bar at Max's Wine Dive (4720 Washington Avenue) begging the chef to make us a plate of our favorite hot-weather food and then beseeching the sommelier to help us find an appropriate wine pairing.

Though we liked his initial (joking) attitude of "screw pairings and drink what you want," he did end up helping us find a nice, dry, sparkling Cuvee that lent itself well to the crisp oiliness of the fried green tomatoes. The J Cuvee from Sonoma was a bit pricey at about $35, but worth every penny with its heady blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. It was definitely a sipping wine that lasted well over an hour, which is much more than we can say about those spicy little tomatoes, which were gobbled up in about ten seconds.