I’m providing wine for an event with a variety of Armenian food. This is basically Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine: hummus, fatoush, yogurt spread, falafel, tabouleh, etc. There’s lots of mint, garlic, tahini, cilantro, paprika, olive oil, that kind of thing. Wikipedia lists these primary spices:
Garlic
Red pepper (particularly Aleppo pepper, which is a spicier variety of paprika)
Mint (in Western Armenia)
Dill (in Eastern Armenia, the current Republic of Armenia)
Parsley
Tarragon
Paprika
Cumin
Coriander
Sumac (the powdered dried berry of the Mediterranean sumac bush)
Cinnamon
Cloves
Mahlab (the powdered pit of the black cherry)
Rose water
Orange blossom water
Basil and bay leaves are used in certain dishes
So, what would you bring to pair with such foods? I know it’s challenging (which is why I’m asking), especially since I’m not sure I’ll be able to always pair specific wines with certain dishes, though I might be able to do so to an extent. Advice and ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I live in Glendale, California so I have some experience with this… I like Chateauneuf, very fruity oddball wines like Punta Crena (Ligurian wine made from Crovino/Corvinone grapes) or dry Lambrusco. If you would like to go closer to the “grows together goes together” idea maybe seek out some Chateau Musar, not Armenian but Lebanese and has some nice complexity in good vintages.
I eat this stuff regularly. Like you said, it’s really middle eastern fare. For whites, I like crisp whites with a touch of herbleness, think Malvasia, Gruner V (even Riesling), Sparkling (Cava, Espumante), Loire Sauv Blancs even Msucadets. Rose works exceptionally well. For reds, think Rhone blends; So Italian like Negroamaro, Nero d’Avola, Montepulciano blends, even Lacrima di Morro; Zinfandel; Croatian Reds (Plavac Mali, Babich, Lasin) work well too. Numerous Spanish and Portuguese wines will also work. Generally I feel wines with some rusticity, minerality and low oaked will work well. BTW-Armenian food from Soviet Armenia is complete;y different, more Russian inspired. It wasn’t until the post WWII immigration that the diaspora brought middle eastern cuisine to Armenia proper.
Thanks for the ideas so far. I didn’t know about the different styles of Armenian food, but this is definitely the more Middle Eastern style. I should probably have mentioned that most of the menu is vegetarian. I wasn’t sure if Loire sauv blanc would hold up to the intense flavors, but there will be a couple of big fans there (including one of the hosts), so since it’s been suggested I will probably include some. I love the dry Lambrusco suggestion as I have found it can often pair with heavily spiced foods that often clash with most other reds. The only wine I’m semi committed to at the moment is Lapierre Morgon 2009. I have also been thinking about (I think these have all been mentioned, but to give an impression of my ideas so far) Riesling (dry and/or off dry-to-medium), Gewurztraminer from the Alsace, maybe Loire chenin blanc, and sparkling wine. I won’t have that many categories covered, so I’m trying to narrow it down and maybe include 1 or 2 things besides those. Any more help would be appreciated as I still have a couple of days to decide.