wine with Mexican food

WINE TALK
1

I hate Mexican food. For about 15 years, I ate in Mexican restaurants once a year as friends assured me I just hadn’t had the good stuff. After 15 meals I did not enjoy, I said ‘no mas’. That was about 10 years ago.

So last night Sally and I joined some friends at El Camino Cantina, in Brunswick, Maine for dinner. El Camino describes itself as “a recycled Mexican low-rider chic cantina located in Brunswick, Maine that focuses on locally and sustainably grown produce, meats and seafood.” I made a sales call there a few months back and was more than impressed by the serious attention they paid to wines, the eclectic uncompromising Mexican menu, the quality of their food suppliers (many producers I buy from at our farmer’s markets) and the ineffably cheesy décor, demanding at least sunglasses if not a blindfold. I figured if they bought a wine I would buy dinner. They did (it’s a short list, hard to get something in there) and so along with my own wine we enjoyed the following interesting stuff by the glass:

2013 Bonny Doon Clos du Gilroy - Bright red fruit, strawberries, medium bodied, with good freshness, loamy earth, grainy but pleasant tannins, good balance, not a particularly long finish but very pleasant. Rated about 89.5.

2011 Glory Days Zinfandel Lodi - Black raspberry nose is really nice, doesn’t scream ‘Zin’ to me. Hints of briar underneath give a better clue. Light to medium bodied on the palate with bright fruit and a cool impression. There’s not much here that says ‘Zin’ but it’s a very good wine and the freshness was a good match for the slightly sweet, slightly hot pork belly with cider, chipotle, black beans and rice. Rated about 88.5

2011 Echeverria Merlot Reserve - Classic plummy nose with a surprising hint of cedar and a touch of oak. Medium bodied but opulent, with fully resolved tannins, more black plum than red, hint of conifer, nice balance and surprisingly lush. Although not as good a match with the food as the others, it was the best red glass of the evening. Rated about 90.0.

2012 Freakshow Cabernet Sauvignon Lodi - Simple but correct nose with red currants and a hint of cedar. Surprisingly powerful palate with simple red fruits, noticeable backbone and plenty of both tannin and acidity. This was a pleasant glass that went well with the food but it lacked intensity of flavor, the tannin and acidity were a little much for the fruit. Rated about 84.5.

2012 Bernreiter Gruner Veltliner - This had fine aromas of quince and green herbs. The palate was surprisingly lush, with plenty of ripe white fruits but little of the firm minerality that is Gruner’s hallmark. The intensity of flavor was a good surprise, the flavors were subtle and pleasant, with hints of white spices and green herbs to go with the fruit. The softness was not unpleasant, but not what I look for in this varietal. Rated about 87.0 as wine, about 83.0 as Gruner.

Dan Kravitz

2

So how was the food?

By the way… If I lived in Maine, I’m pretty sure I’d hate Mexican food too. Living in LA… it’s the best. I’m pretty sure we can get better Mexican food at the counter of the carniceria up the street than you can anywhere in the region.

3

I don’t try to pair wine with Mexican food any more. Maybe some fresh Mex. I’ve “given up” and go for a beer as God intended us to have with our burrito.

4

I always think about the Cooks Illustrated show on PBS, one night they made “authentic” Tex-Mex. the refried beans recipe called for a blender.

5

Me too. I like it really hot, and it just doesn’t work. Beer, margaritas, yes.

I’ve tried it all with sushi, too. I love sushi, but it doesn’t work for me with wine either.

6

Love Mexican food; love Tex-Mex. Very different things. I like wine with Mexican food, but usually have a beer with tex mex (and usually not Mexican beer)

7

There is a type of wine that works with Mexican food and the beer and margarita recommendations should be giving you a big hint. You need something light, sweet, and cold – in other words, sweet wines with very high acidity. Try a Riesling Spatlese or higher; an icewine; a late harvest; a lighter Sauternes, Tokaji or other botrytis-affected wine. Port sometimes works well flavor-wise as well but I think it’s actually too heavy a combination with rich Mexican food so if you are feeling so bold then make sure to drink plenty of water with your meal.

Trust me on this, I lived in Central America for five formative years of my childhood. If you still doubt this, just know that the most famous non-alcoholic drink to have in Mexico with any food is a Jarritos soft drink and the most popular flavor by far is Tamarind which is really tart. In fact, come to think iof it, I’m sure my love of sweet wine with main course food and not dessert comes from having grown up in this culture.

I’m a little torn on Champagne and sparkling wine as a match; it does clean out the palate but I find flavor-wise it’s not as good a match as it is with, say, Thai food which is also spicy as Mexican food is but tends not to be as rich. If the sparkling wine is rich but lower in acidity, you may not find it goes as well as you’d hoped.

Remember that good Latin cuisine is traditionally rich in flavor and texture (i.e. guacamole, refried frijoles, molé, etc.) but very low in acid; hence why limes are always the accompaniment as opposed to salt and pepper. It’s there to balance the food. Therefore, you must choose your wine accordingly. The higher the spice you like, the more acidic and/or sweet your wine should be.

8

Beer and margaritas are certainly bets, but champagne would work, depending n what food you’re talking about. “Mexican food” encompasses quite a range.

9

Not sure you can find it, but Gamba’s 2010 Starr Road Ranch Moratto Vineyard Zinfandel. It’s a match made in heaven for spicey food.

10

“Mexican food” is too broad of a concept to generalize. But California/Mexico type Mexican food (carne asada, mojo de ajo, pastor, bacon wrapped shrimp, grilled chicken and seafood, etc.) goes fine with zinfandel, lightly sweet whites, probably many less tannic Rhones. Basically, most wines that work well with summer grilling food.

Tex Mex is tougher, since there is sometimes sugary BBQ sauce mixed in.

11

I opened up the thread in order to reply: BEER

But then I stopped after I read the first four words.

12

dudes, it’s lambrusco!!!

13

We have Zin, Merlot, Viognier, Roussanne, Rosé, Pinot Blanc and likely others I can’t remember now with Mexican food all the time. No harder to pull a wine for mexican food than any other.

14

One, tex-mex isn’t mexican food. But it can definitely be good. Two, there are so many regional Mexican foods that it is impossible to generalize and impossible to hate unless you are north of the northern border of CA, AZ, CO, or north or east of Texas. Then it is almost always terrible. Last, as much as i like wine, many of the great foods of the world either overwhelm or otherwise disagree with grape wine in general but beer/vodka/sake/tequila are fantastic alternatives. Interesting topic but not really constrained to Mexican food.

15

Unless you’re a Wine Berserker, in which case any food that isn’t wine country cuisine or Continental European can’t be paired with wine, except for maybe sparkling wine and minor white varietals.

pileon

16

Tequilla!

17

^ Chris nails it here ^

…tequila, beer, margaritas all good options as well.

18

That clos de Gilroy is rock solid and a monster qpr

19

My first DRC was a 1997 La Tache…and a taco truck…it wasn’t good.

20

Has no one said champagne or did I just happen to miss it? We had a blanc de noir the other night that paired exceptionally with steak enchiladas.