There was one more example of what can be done with Sable fish. This time it was pan roasted with a touch of soy sauce, and combined with wild mushrooms, given a similar treatment and cooked to a deep, dark color. The umami was more similar to lamb shanks than it was to any fish I’ve ever eaten.

In that same “meaty” flavor range, I paired it with a 2014 Callaghan Vineyards Arizona Mourvedre, and it was perfect. The dark color and dusky tannins met happily with the mushrooms and oily fish.

One of the delicious ironies of this wine choice is that my very first bottle of Arizona wine — 10 years before my son started making wines in Arizona — was a 2002 Callaghan Mourvedre. I still have the bottle. It was an “Aha!” moment, when I realized that some very good wines can be found in many locations I did not know about.