Odd food and wine pairings...

WINE TALK
1

Somewhat orthogonal to the “classic pairings that don’t work for you” what odd food and wine pairings have you found?

For me, Cheetos and Aussie Shiraz! I know, hard to improve on Cheetos but add a little Shiraz… yummy!

2

Fried chicken and Champagne.

3

I think shitake mushrooms go fabulously with Pinot and Syrah.

4

Saxum with anything !!!

5

BBQ ribs and sweet German wines.

6

Montlouis sec (other dry Loire Chénin Blanc would most likely work) with spaghetti carbonara, provided one uses pancetta, garlic and onions.

7

Pepperoni pizza and kabinett Riesling

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Anything without burgundy.

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[winner.gif]

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In my best Foghorn Leghorn voice: “He said odd, ah say, odd, son.”

In our frequent ‘Best Wine with Fried Chicken’ dinners, Champagne wins more often than not.

11

This is more my kind of thread. I’m so fatigued by all the “you can’t drink wine with that food, you should just drink beer or sake” assertions around here.

I find that zinfandel works decently well with lots of spicy food, many of those in the category that are traditionally believed only to work with beer, sake, Riesling or Gewurtz. Mexican food, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese. The bigger more fruit-driven ones usually have little or no tannin (to become bitter tasting because of the spicy food), the fruit is big enough not to get drowned out by the strong flavors of the food, and there is usually a spicy/peppery dimension to the zin that somewhat complements the food. I’d be less inclined to us a more rustic or claret-like zin like Ridge or Swan, though.

I’m not saying it’s wine pairing perfection (although with gourmet Mexican, it’s pretty strong – a carne asada dinner with Turley zin is a great match), but it works well enough, and it allows you to have red wine with those foods when you want to have red wine and not always just have to have sweet whites or beer.

12

Moscato d’Asti with salad that has vinegar based dressing.

13

When I lived near Bordeaux and was there quite often, I liked how the locals drink red Bordeaux of the simpler kind with oysters (with red wine vinegar and crépinettes). When the wine is properly chilled (i.e. around 10-14° C), I find that combination a real treat. I also like oysters with Sauternes.

Spinach and eggs are said to be killers for all wines, especially red wines, but a combination I’ve successfully tried several times is a spinach dish of cooked spinach with fried or poached eggs and either shaved white truffles or - in the cheaper combination - Comté cheese with aged Tuscany Sangiovese. Somehow it works.

In the restaurant of Jean-Luc Rabanel in Arles I was taught how to pair artichokes with wine. I had never had a wine that really worked with artichokes, but there they served an oxidative vin naturel style wine (50% Chardonnay, 50% Chenin Blanc) from the Aveyron with an artichoke/potato dish that was lovely even though I wouldn’t have wanted to drink the wine on its own. I haven’t tried it since then, also because the wine wasn’t made in a Sherry or Jura kind of style, so it’s not easy to find something similar, but I’m motivated to try it again soon.

14

A friend who is brilliant at matches (on different occasions) served me:

– aged Clape Cornas with vitello tonato

– Muller-Catoir Spatburgunder with chicken with barbeque sauce

Both were odd, and both were excellent pairings. The fat of the mayonaise worked with the syrah and the sweetness and tomato matched the Spatburgunder. Go figure.

15

I think eggs can work well with reds. In Piemonte, I’ve had nebbiolo with eggs and truffles sometimes. And I’ve made frittatas to go with fruity, bright, high-acid reds like Beaujolais, barbera and dolcetto. I can see the sangiovese working in a similar way.

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I was wondering if he meant odd 'cause it works so well… champagne.gif
My dinner last night:

17

Steak with an Aussie late harvest Riesling. Odd pairing but very good together. The orange peel notes really played with the beef.

18

A more “traditional” styled Aussie Shiraz with Sushi that has plenty of wasabi or that is on the spicy side. May sound odd, but the peppery, slightly sweet and slightly acidic notes of the Shiraz go really well with the spicy side of Sushi. You wouldn’t think so, but like the Zin comment above, it works.

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Everything with Burgundy [cheers.gif]

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Instant noodles and Gewurz
Weed and Chinon