October 2010: Food and Wine Pairing

1. Spicy food with off dry (slightly sweet) wine

Ex. Mexican, Thai or Chips and Salsa with with Moscato, Riesling, Gewurtztraminer KS.

Slightly sweet wines help to cool the heat of spicy food (think: margarita and Mexican food.) Also, off-dry wines are lower in alcohol, which is good b/c alcohol tends to emphasize spicy heat. To contrast with a bad pairing, try spicy food with a full-bodied/high alcohol Chardonnay and you'll find that it's not refreshing at all and the food will taste even hotter.

2. Acidic food with acidic wine

Ex. Goat cheese, Salad with Sancerre/ Sauv Blanc

This seems counter intuitive, but actually acidic wine and acidic food tend to tone one another down, making for a mellow pairing.

3. Creamy dishes and acidic wines

Ex. Sauvignon Blanc - dishes with cream sauce, mild cheese, cream based dips - other KAKViognier - poultry, mild cheese, cream based dips - RK

Acidic wines help cut the richness of creamy dishes.

4. Fat and protein with big tannic reds

Ex. Steak, Parmesan cheese with Cabernet or Barolo
malbec and meat - ADPinot Noir - strong cheese - KAK.

My former boss used to call big tannic red wines like Cabernet and Barolo "Fat Strippers". It's sort of a hilarious joke, because he's Italian and was always going on about how much he loved fat strippers, but when we're talking about wine, it's true: tannic wines cut the fat, making the food better. Foods high in fat and protein coat your mouth and mellow the astringency of tannins, making the wine better. It's a classic pairing.

5. Regional pairings

Sangiovese or Barbera with dishes with tomato sauceTempranillo - dishes with tomato sauce, strong cheese TLW

Regional pairings - from good wine regions - are always a great idea. Italian reds Sangiovese and Barbera have sort of an earthy cherry flavor which pairs well with tomato sauces. Spanish Tempranillo and Sherry both pair well with tapas - fatty salty earthy foods - (toasted almonds, olives, vegetable tempura.)

6. Dessert wine always sweeter than the dessert

Some dessert pairing classics:

• port and blue cheese
• cabernet and chocolate
• sherry and vanilla ice cream

September 2010: NZ Sauv Blanc / Aussie Shiraz

the sauvignon blanc:

• Oyster Bay, New Zealand - $13.99, rated 3.5, the winner
• Walnut Block, New Zealand - $11.99, rated 3.3, runner-up
• Nobilo, New Zealand - $11.99, rated 2.9

A little about NZ sauv blanc:  they're famous for the stuff.  Why?  Because theirs has more acidity than most new world (CA) sauv blancs (NZ has cold nights even in the dead of summer, keeping the acidity in the fruit high) and is more flavorful than old world (FR) sauv blancs, aka sancerre.

the shiraz:

• Peter Lehmann Clancy's, blended with cab sauv and merlot, Australia, $15.00, rated 3.78, the winner
• Stump Jump, blended w grenach, Australia - $10.00, rated 3.5, runner-up
• Molly Dooker, The Boxer, Australia - $26.00, rated 3.4
• Yalumba, blended with viognier, Australia - $11.99, rated 2.8
• Little Roo, Australia - $8.99, rated 2.3

A little about Australian shiraz:  I think it's irresistible, with its luscious, rich flavor and spicy aromas.  Sort of savory and sweet.  Australian shiraz is usually riper, higher in alcohol and more fruit driven than its French counterpart, syrah.  I also find that the spicy characteristics in FR syrah are more distinctly like black pepper, while AU shiraz can have some sweeter spice - cinnamon, clove, allspice - too.  Try a comparative tasting sometime :)


the take-home lessons:


We can make a flavor map of the wine world based on climate.

Cool climate wines have crisp and tangy acidity, lighter body and "green," lean and tart flavor (white think: apples, pears; red think: cranberry, cherry.)

Warm climate wines have soft and smooth acidity, fuller body and over ripe and luscious flavor (white think tropical and lush: pineapple, mango, banana; red think: fig, prune.)

Moderate climate has kind of moderate everything - ripeness, intensity, acidity, body.  think of ripe and juicy flavors (white think: peach, melon; red think: berry, plum.)
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Rhone Rangers are winemakers who grow Rhone varietals (syrah/shiraz and blending grapes: grenache, mourvedre, viognier) outside of Rhone, FR.  It was the name originally given to the Californian winemakers back in the 80s, but is now casually used for all new world winemakers who grow Rhone wines outside of FR.