Crawfish etouffee/Red beans and rice pairing help

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

We’re having a few couples over this weekend for a dinner of crawfish etouffee and red beans and rice. Looking for some pairing help form wines within my cellar. Here some broad choices:

Rieslings: several ranging from kabinett to auslese
Sauvignon Blanc: Cloudy Bay and Francois Cotat Sancerre
Chardonnay: Cali, Burgundy, Chablis, etc
Several Italian Whites: Pinot Bianco, Arneis

I’m sure that I’ll open up one bottle of Riesling, but I’d like to try one of others above for a contrast. Any suggestions are appreciated.

2

Try the Arneis but also go get some good dry Rose and some hearty BEER!

Roberto, former Beverage Director of Antoine’s in NOLA

3

Abita beer

If you have to drink wine, I might take the NZ sauvignon, might be too much wood in the Sancerre, great as it is. How bout a pinot bianco from Alto Adige or even Alsace?

4

Henry: I have a few bottles of this pinot bianco: 2007 Alois Lageder Pinot Bianco Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT

Roberto, beer and rose would certainly be a good safe match.

5

Also Cru Beaujolais with a bit of a chill on it works great!

6

A young, fruity, but not overly alcoholic Zinfandel (think Dry Creek Valley AVA) is a terrific match with my dark roux seafood and andouille gumbo. Should work well here, too.

7

Roberto, Beaujolais is a fine suggestion, but a question: Why Cru? In this instance, wouldn’t a fruity, ready-to-go Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages work as well as or better than most Crus?

More generally, why do folks who suggest Beaujolais always suggest Cru? Is it double-reverse snobbery at work?

8

No, it’s the fantastic jump in quality for so little increase in price. Plus, they tend to be imported by guys who use actual refrigerated containers and stuff…

9

“All generalizations are false, including this one.” ~ Mark Twain

Generalizations aside, care to tackle the specific question: “In this instance, wouldn’t a fruity, ready-to-go Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages work as well as or better than most Crus?”

10

I’ll stand by the better provenance argument. I KNOW what I am getting when I buy something from Kermit or Neal Rosenthal.

11

I like the Zin idea, but if the food is going to be super spicy I would also consider a sweeter Riesling.

12

But, in the end the real answer is ALWAYS:

13

No Zin in the house. No time to pick up wine before the dinner.Thoughts on an Arcadian Syrah ??
Do others think that the Pinot Bianco would be overpowered by the spices ?

14

KLWM? No problema. How about Beaujolais (not even Villages), Domaine Dupeuble Pere et Fils? As for Rosenthal, what’s wrong with Beaujolais-Villages, Domaine Pascal Granger? Or Beaujolais-Villages Cuvée Leynes, Domaine Dalicieux?

And, surely, KLWM and Rosenthal are not the only importers you trust. May I also suggest (1) Beaujolais V.V. Cuvée Traditionelle, Vissoux (Weygandt-Metzler); (2) Beaujolais Cuvée L’Ancien V.V., Terres Dorées (Louis Dressner); and (3) Beaujolais les Grandes Coasses, Paul Durdilly (North Berkeley Imports)?

15

I think that’s a capital idea - particularly if it’s the Robert O. Fleming Cuvée.

But I may be prejudiced.

[wink.gif]

16

Brother Fleming, I was just giving examples. I like the extra oomph of the Crus as I like my Red Beans and Rice spicy and with VERY flavorful sausages.

A friend in NOLA use to put half the sausages in to cook with the gravy and keep the other half back to grill till crisp and put on top of the rice before topping with the RB&R from the pot. Mmmm, Mmmmm GOOOOOOOD!

17

Get your story straight, Roberto. Is it provenance or oomph? Or snobbery? Or something else you haven’t thought of yet?

18

It’s something you of all people should understand and respect: personal preference.

19

The third time’s a charm. Why didn’t you just say so?

20

I thought that my recommending those wines in first place was self evident…