Cooking with Wine

Start by heating a large pot filled with water and salted to taste like the sea (about 2 tablespoons of salt for every 6-8 quarts of water), over medium heat for the pasta. Cover with a lid until you are ready to cook the pasta.
Make the Sauce
Begin making the sauce by heating a large sauté pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and, when hot, add the shallots. Sauté until the shallots have turned translucent but haven’t browned.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and then add the champagne, salt, pink pepper, and grapefruit zest. Turn the heat to medium once the champagne boils and let cook down to just a couple of tablespoons of liquid remaining in the pan.
Next, add the cream, nutmeg and champagne vinegar. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and keep simmering, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces and thickens. This should take about 15 minutes.
Poach the Lobster Tails
Once the sauce is close, in a small saucepan, heat the water and white wine over medium-low heat. Add the thyme and butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, and whisk to incorporate all of the butter. The poaching liquid should not be extremely hot or bubbling, use an instant read thermometer to keep it between 165° and 185° (175° is a good temperature to shoot for).
Lightly salt the lobster tails all over and put them in the butter bath to poach. If the lobsters aren’t submerged completely, baste them with the butter mixture several times for 3 minutes, then flip them and do the same. If they are submerged, skip the basting step. They should be done after about 6 minutes, but take an internal temperature to be sure they are 138°-142°. Remove and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Cook the Pasta and Assemble the Dish
While the lobster is cooking, make your pasta. Turn the pot of salted water for the pasta to high so that it is boiling, then add the pappardelle to the salted boiling water. Fresh pasta should take just 2 minutes to cook to al dente, but follow package instructions to cook store-bought dried pasta (if pasta takes longer than 6 minutes according to package instructions, begin the pasta before poaching the lobster).
Once pasta is cooked, remove from the pot and transfer the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Add the cut lobster pieces and combine. If your sauce is too thick, add a little bit of the pasta cooking water to thin it out. Serve.