Going to be make Scallop and Shrimp Fra Diavolo for Christmas Eve.
Was thinking Rose and/or Sparkling Rose. I’m thinking those are great for the dish, but I have some family who will have to have red. Any ideas?
I might give a Dolcetto a try if red is a must.
In a pre-emptive strike, Lambrusco!
Nice+
![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
my trashy bitch of a sister-in-law would feel right at home.
A sparkling Vouvray worked well for me in a similar pairing recently. Something with a touch of RS would work well too, I imagine, as long as it had good acid as well - a riesling or maybe even a frizzante moscato if you want to go Italian? Could also go vermentino… Franciacorta… Soave. Or if you’re in a daring mood, a Movia or a Gravner.
EDIT: sorry, earlier I missed the part about needing a red. Some of my suggestions are really inexpensive though, if you want to do one white, one red.
Seriously, Lambrusco. There are good ones out there, and if it must be red, I think it’s the best way to go. There are many dry ones out there, but if the sauce is pretty spicy, I might prefer one that’s a little off-dry.
Similarly with any other wine, I’d want some residual sugar. Rose d’Anjou, maybe? I guess sparkling rose could work, but again, it depends on how spicy the sauce is.
I’d look for a rose – still or sparkling – with a touch of r.s…
Golf clap!
Renardat-Fache’s “Cerdon du Bugey” (NV) sparkling Rose. it’s off-dry enough that it will deal with the heat, lively/crisp enough that no one will consider it a sweet wine, should match well with the scallops/shrimp, and, best of all, is quite complex…
That’s actually a rose, as are most of the other reasonable suggestions. But if you can sell it as a red, it’s a great choice.
+1 on Lambrusco, which is a red in reality as well as appearance. And there is good Lambrusco to be found.
A fairly acidic, lower alcohol Barbera could work, but probably not for the type of person who says that they only drink red.
If the image problem of Lambrusco is a non starter for this crowd, then quite honestly your best bet is to open the cheapest low alcohol red you have lying around and hope for the best. It’s probably got a higher probability of success than most anything else. I haven’t had it in decades, but back in the day Gallo Hearty Burgundy would have been a suitable choice. Of course that would have the same image issues as Lambrusco and probably wouldn’t work for that reason (plus Gallo has probably thoroughly oaked the stuff by now), but that’s the type of wine I’d be looking at if it were my back against the wall.
Oops, I misread the original post and thought he was open to all suggestions. (And another suggestion along those lines would be a Malvasia or Ribolla made in the “orange wine” style–Cotar, Zidarich, Radikon, Movia, etc.)
For a “true” red you are right, Lambrusco would be my first choice…followed by a high acid red (Sangio, Barbera, Zinfandel/Primitivo, Negroamaro) or possibly even an Amarone (which don’t really “go” with any food, but can typically stand up to any food).
Back in the day, at least till around 1985, the Gallo Hearty Burg in magnum with the driven corks was an assemblage of a lot of their owned-vineyard old vine Petite Sirah/Zin/Syrah and other varietal wine that wouldn’t sell back then under its’ real names. It was bloody good stuff and aged gracefully for years. We had a lot of pretty sophisticted wine customers who’d buy it by the case to age short-term and it drank like much higher priced wine. Unfortunately, that program went south many many years ago, and the subsequent bottlings are pretty ordinary vin plonk.
The color is dark enough that you can probably sell it as a red, though the bubbles might be an issue.
Me, I’m serving a Sparky Marquis wine for the “must have red” crowd, along with some cava for the rest of us. But I’m mean like that, at least when it comes to folks who are both clueless and demanding.