Wines with spicy foods

Found this article while catching up on some reading at the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/dining/17pour.html. Registration required, but worth it as there is some pretty good info and writing there.

The article is particularly interesting because it takes a very different tack on matching wines with spicy foods - focusing on crisp, young, fruity but properly acidic, wines, and not the unctuous Rieslings and floral Gewurztraminer most often suggested. Oh, and Eric suggests French Champagne when in doubt...

Beer and/or bourbon might still be the best choice.

dicksond wrote:Found this article while catching up on some reading at the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/dining/17pour.html. Registration required, but worth it as there is some pretty good info and writing there.

The article is particularly interesting because it takes a very different tack on matching wines with spicy foods - focusing on crisp, young, fruity but properly acidic, wines, and not the unctuous Rieslings and floral Gewurztraminer most often suggested. Oh, and Eric suggests French Champagne when in doubt...

Beer and/or bourbon might still be the best choice.

Remember, I've been suggesting Loire Valley wines with Thai food for a while

Lotus of Siam in Vegas has an extensive collection of Reislings, which they suggest makes a perfect accompaniment to spicy Thai food.

I'm with VI. I've been a Sancerre fan for years and they pair nicely with spicy food. Not long ago I was in Santa Cruz enjoying an outdoor lunch of vaguely southwestern food at which my host served Bonny Doon Vin Gris Cigare from the nearby vinyard. Since then I've tried several vin gris with spicy meals and have been happy with the pairing.

dicksond wrote:a very different tack on matching wines with spicy foods - focusing on crisp, young, fruity but properly acidic, wines, and not the unctuous Rieslings and floral Gewurztraminer most often suggested.

I do like gewurztraminer with spicy foods; you might enjoy the pairing more if you look for Alsatian gewurz, which tends to be much more crisp and dry than the California varieties.

Viognier also holds its own against highly spiced food. I also like zinfindels when the spices are Mexican/Southwestern rather than Asian.

Vital Information wrote:Remember, I've been suggesting Loire Valley wines with Thai food for a while

Have you been suggesting Loire Valley reds?

Aaron Deacon wrote:

Vital Information wrote:Remember, I've been suggesting Loire Valley wines with Thai food for a while

Have you been suggesting Loire Valley reds?

No, but I just read somewhere that Loire Valley reds are good too with spicy foods. I do not even think I've ever tried one (and I also heard that Chinon is the classic one to fool someone on on the, is it red or is it white blind test).

Rob

LAZ wrote:I do like gewurztraminer with spicy foods; you might enjoy the pairing more if you look for Alsatian gewurz, which tends to be much more crisp and dry than the California varieties.

Viognier also holds its own against highly spiced food. I also like zinfindels when the spices are Mexican/Southwestern rather than Asian.

Actually, I enjoy Alsatian Gewurz and Riesling just fine and did not mean to imply otherwise, including with spicy (Asian mostly) foods - if I had been referring to these wines from elsewhere I would also have called them "sugary," since they tend to be made a bit sweetly everywhere except Alsace and Austria. One of the most memorable wine matchings of my life was an Alsatian Gewurz (don't remember whose) with a Rijstafel. Blissful stuff. It also can be interesting with some Indian foods, and of course Thai.

Not terribly fond of Viognier, no matter how much I have tried, though - somehow it always strikes me as blunt, without much finesse or fruit, like being hit in the palate.

Zinfandel with Mexican food is an interesting idea. Can you clarify what Mexican foods you like to match it with? Guisados, Moles, antojitos, or??? I have recently enjoyed matching Syrahs with stews and some of the soups, and certainly the grilled foods. I would think one might want a white (something crisp?) with a black or red mole - Topolobampo leans toward white riojas or rhones (which brings us back to Viognier). The only problem is that I am not too fond of the overly alcoholic, hot, Zinfandels and Syrahs from California. Somehow I manage to do a little better finding acceptable Syrahs, but have almost completely given up on the Zinfandels. Any specific producers you look for?

No, but I just read somewhere that Loire Valley reds are good too with spicy foods. I do not even think I've ever tried one (and I also heard that Chinon is the classic one to fool someone on on the, is it red or is it white blind test).

I have spent a fair amount of time around the Loire Valley - Mom lived at the north edge of the Loire and the southeastern corner of Normandy (near Dreux) for about 10 years. There are two things I really learned to love there - good Loire reds, and high quality Calvados. Just wonderful reds all over the place, mostly young, crisp, fresh Chinon, which I find comparable to Valpolicella or Beaujolais (not Nouveau), but also some big, age-worthy wines that could be had for a song. Can't find them anywhere else, though. Too bad that with Mom in the USA I no longer have a convenient excuse to go to Tours or Anjou.

dicksond wrote:Zinfandel with Mexican food is an interesting idea. Can you clarify what Mexican foods you like to match it with? Guisados, Moles, antojitos, or??? I have recently enjoyed matching Syrahs with stews and some of the soups, and certainly the grilled foods. I would think one might want a white (something crisp?) with a black or red mole - Topolobampo leans toward white riojas or rhones (which brings us back to Viognier). The only problem is that I am not too fond of the overly alcoholic, hot, Zinfandels and Syrahs from California. Somehow I manage to do a little better finding acceptable Syrahs, but have almost completely given up on the Zinfandels. Any specific producers you look for?

I mostly match it with foods with a high chili-pepper content. Zinfindel's particularly nice with chipotles, I think. And it's great with spicy barbecue.

Zins I've enjoyed include St. Francis Vineyards, Guenoc Estates, Cline Cellars, Clos La Chance and Storybook Mountain. What I like about zins is their innate spiciness, which is what makes them hold up well to zesty foods.

If you're inclined to give viognier another shot, try Domaine de Triennes from Provence.

FWIW, I tend to find that with complex, aromatic, spicy foods wines that bring a lot of their own personality to the table (as it were) need to be a near perfect match, or there's gonna be a fight. And since I often don't know in advance exactly what we'll be eating - or exactly what the wine will bring, I prefer a cream puff that will roll over for the food. Something "quaffable" as the wine writers like to say. Pinot gris or even blanc. Or Riesling Kabinett - but not a great one. And lager is still my first choice.

D- Chinon reds tend to be Cabernet Franc, as I recall. No? Howard (of Howard's Wine Cellar on Belmont) gave me one as a sub for Beaujolais, of which he disapproves, and it was indeed a great summer red for grilling. (I don't know if Howard disapproves of Beaujolais altogether, or simply doesn't like what the producers are doing with it lately. But you hae to admire the quixotic integrity of a wineseller who just won't sell you one because he's against it.)

I would add to the reds list the Argentinian Malbec category. I'm quite entranced with the ones I've had so far, especially on the price/value/versatility scale.

mrbarolo wrote:FWIW, I tend to find that with complex, aromatic, spicy foods wines that bring a lot of their own personality to the table (as it were) need to be a near perfect match, or there's gonna be a fight. And since I often don't know in advance exactly what we'll be eating - or exactly what the wine will bring, I prefer a cream puff that will roll over for the food. Something "quaffable" as the wine writers like to say. Pinot gris or even blanc. Or Riesling Kabinett - but not a great one. And lager is still my first choice.

That's pretty much my feeling... Simple, maybe young, not necessarily especially dry or not dry... Some rosés -- of the sort that remind me of the young wines drunk in places where wine is the local water -- work well.

Cultural tradition is also not to be disregarded. Consequently, with some things I'm more inclined to favour beer over wine, though rigid rules are hardly appealing.

Antonius