I know that it is a little early for St. Paddy’s Day, but I got my hands on two gorgeous pieces of aged brisket here, and the larger one is in day four of a 5-day home cured corned beef. It is large enough that I am thinking of going Irish with cabbage and boiled potatoes the first time around, and then Jewish with some nice sandwiches on rye and Reubens. (This being Italy, everything from the corned beef to the rye bread to the Russian dressing has to be done from scratch.) I will no doubt drink beer with the sandwiches, but it occurred to me that I have never seen a discussion of pairing wines with corned beef. The cabbage is not critical to the inquiry; it can be eaten after the fact. Is there a wine that pairs well with corned beef? (If the answer is Mogen David or Manischewitz, there is no hope for me here! Having never seen either being consumed with corned beef at Katz’s Deli, Carnegie or Stage back in the day, I remain hopeful…)
Good question. I had a very disappointing pairing last year with a red burg, and I’m not sure what to do this year myself.
Riesling. I know that sounds nuts, but try it.
Bill,
You were on the hunt. Any luck?
Riesling, Gruner, Chenin: Donnhoff Estate, Spreitzer Halbtrocken, anything from FX Pichler or Prager/Bodenstein or Hirtzberger, Huet, something weird from Puzelat, etc.
From Italy - any Prosecco, and of course your cult whites - Giacosa Roero Arneis, Paolo Bea Santa Chiara or Arboreus, Valentini Trebbiano, etc.
And there’s always champagne, if you frequent that rent district.
On the red side, it’s gonna need a ton of acid - Puzelat Pineau d’Aunis, Rose Champagne, Puffeney Poulsard M, an off-vintage lean Gamay, Bea Sagrantino Secco?
without the ketchup, of course
From the USA: Laetitia, Steve Edmunds, and all of Jim Cowan’s wines look really fascinating for this purpose:
http://cowancellars.com/wines/
Other regions that I wish I had more familiarity with: Michigan Riesling, Fingerlakes Riesling, and they even say that Missouri is starting to make some interesting wines.
Then there’s non-Vinifera [native North American varietals/species], but that’s probably getting a little too intense for this board.
Henry, not yet…I was too busy buying Barolo, Chianti and Brunello from a German who has no Riesling! Next on the list. And I have no problem with the Riesling-corned beef combo. If I go that way, I can surely get away with boiled or fried cabbage AND kraut. I would drink Riesling with a Reuben in a heartbeat, now that I think about it.
Steve, that looks like pastrami to me. Not that I have anything against pastrami…
Yes indeedy, but I had to poach the picture from what was available, lacking the proper props.
Tokay d’Alsace was my first thought, or any other Pinot Gris…
Juliénas or Morgon my second thought.
If it goes with choucroute garnie, it should go with corn beef and cabbage. So that says Alsatian (probably riesling, pinot gris or muscat–gewurz only if you can find a really dry one).
I agree, and must confess that I did not even think of that analogy, which is quite an apt one…
Man up Klapp, go with Guinness!
Gosh I love corned beef!
Sometimes the best wine is beer. But if you must, I guess Riesling, Alsace whites might be OK.
No complaints here! One local bright spot in that regard is the influx of Romanian workers into this area of northern Italy. I can now find their sausages, pastrami and other meat products in the glorious Porta Palazzo market in Turin, and I have not tasted through the options yet, but it seems only a matter of time and enjoyable effort until I find something fine to slap on some rye. (They did, after all, invent pastrami.) One curious thing, however: it seems that not all Romanian pastrami that I am seeing is beef. Some of it is looking porky to me, or at least not brisket or navel. I understand that other meats are routinely made into pastrama, as it is called here, including goose and turkey.
After 5 days, if this damn thing is not wonderful, I may be suicidal…
Oh, before I forget…. 1947 Cheval Blanc matches everything.
Can someone get Tim Hanni on this, I am sure he knows. Or not.
+1 on the Dr. Brown’s.
Also something like that Giacosa Spumante - maybe you could find one with some age on it?
Or use it as an excuse to sample the cult wines of the Lakes Region - some weird Frizzante or whatever.
BTW, it looks like Giacosa used to bottle those Spumantes with vintage dates:
That seems like the kind of thing that you might find lying around gathering dust on a shelf somewhere in a shop or an enoteca.