Cline 2009 North Coast selection will work well with a number of dishes

The moment I tasted our Wine of the Week, Cline 2009 North Coast Viognier ($16), I found myself thinking about wild king salmon and mango salsa, a dish I made countless times in the early 1990s.

It is one of those perfect marriages, made in pairing heaven and destined to endure.

The wine has the beautiful bouquet for which the varietal is known, a fragrance suggestive of fruit and flowers. Think peaches and apricots warmed by the sun, a ripe pear and the aroma of orange blossoms caught on the wind.

There's honeysuckle, too, and when the wine is well chilled, it reminds me of summer mornings as a child, when I could never resist nuzzling every patch of honeysuckle I saw.

The wine is full and generous on the palate but, at the same time, refreshing and bright, qualities that make it compatible with a wide range of foods, including the spicy cuisines of Southeast Asia and India.

It will hold up well with rich coconut-milk based curries and will also be excellent with the tangy vegetable, seafood and meat salads of Thailand, including green papaya salad, squid salad and rare steak salad.

Roasted pork loin with apricots that have been sauteed in butter is also a delicious match.

But as I consider the very best pairing, I keep coming back to salmon and mango. Think of it as love at first sight, as true love on the plate.

There's one other possibility that could surpass this pairing, a similar dish made with white peaches instead of mangos.

When the magnificent Arctic Gem white peaches of Dry Creek Peach and Produce begin to ripen in a couple of months, remember this recipe and be sure to have a bottle of Cline 2009 North Coast Viognier on hand.

Slow-cooked Wild King Salmon with Mango Salsa

Makes 4 servings

4 wild King salmon fillets, 6 to 8 ounces each, scaled

-- Kosher salt

-- Black pepper in a mill

-- Olive oil

1 large or 2 small ripe mangoes (see Note below)

1 tablespoon minced red onion

1 serrano, stemmed, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons mildly-flavored extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves or Italian parsley leaves

-- Cilantro or parsley sprigs, for garnish

4 lime wedges

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Season the salmon fillets all over with salt and pepper and brush them lightly with olive oil.

Set the fillets on a sheet pan, set the pan on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

While the salmon cooks, make the salsa. With a very sharp knife, peel the mango and cut the fruit from the seed.

Cut the mango flesh into ? inch dice and put it into a medium bowl.

Add the onion, serrano, vinegar, lime juice and olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Use 2 forks to toss very gently. Taste, correct for salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

(You can, if you prefer, make the salsa a few hours before preparing the salmon.)

Set the cooked salmon on individual plates and spoon some of the salsa on top, placing it so that some tumbles onto the plate.

Garnish with cilantro or parsley sprigs and a wedge of lime. Serve immediately.

Note: If ripe mangos are not available, use ripe white peaches, ripe apricots or, if you can find it, white pineapple. Be sure to taste the salsa as you make it, adjusting the acid as needed; pineapple will need less acid and apricots will likely need a bit more.

Michele Anna Jordan hosts "Mouthful" each Sunday at 7 p.m. on KRCB 90.9 & 91.1 FM. E-mail Jordan at michele@micheleannajordan.com.