Wine Pairing Information

Question: Wine pairing question?

(Posted by: I Should Be Working on 2007-07-24 13:33:38)

Hi I am not very good at pairing wine and any help would be wonderful! I am making Sesame- Chile Chicken with Ginered Watermelon Salsa and Blackbeans and Rice (with rum in it) Any idea what i should serve? Or incredients inthe wine i should look for?

Posted by: C.S. on 2007-07-24, 13:46:38

Good dinner first off! I'm sortof jealous that I wasn't invited. I'd avoid the whites (although any of the semi-sweet type would work well). The ginger and blackbeans make me go with a red wine. They are a little stronger ingredients and I go against the conventional wisdom. I think strong flavors go red wine and chicken/ fish flavors go with white. The other ingredients that go with the chicken make me go for a red wine instead of the conventional white. The rum taste, however, will need a light red wine rather than a heavy one. I'd go Shiraz. Maybe a Australian Shiraz mixed with some Viognier. That would complement the fruit in the salsa and be light but still have some robustness. Those are not the most popular, but if you got a good wine store, should be able to find it.

Posted by: chefgrille on 2007-07-24, 13:37:49

With all those flavors, you can never go wrong with a sparkling wine. It goes well with everything, even pizza. I'd suggest a demi-sec, which is slightly sweeter and offset some spiciness.

Posted by: ooz�ƃ ʇ��ɹƃ �ɥʇ on 2007-07-24, 13:38:43

Low tannins (they contrast poorly with spice) and a little bit of sweetness. I would go with a semi sweet white.

Posted by: Kelso on 2007-07-24, 13:40:35

To make it simple, chicken and fish should always be pared with white wine. Pork and red meat with red wines, bbq with bolder fruiter wines like red zyn. Go with a great chard, it wont overwhelm your wonderful sounding dish

Posted by: maigen_obx on 2007-07-24, 13:43:41

Sparkling wine is the perfect foil for spicy food. Cuvee M by Mumm Napa Valley is a relatively inexpensive brut. Mirabelle by Schramsburg is also really good and relatively inexpensive. Both Mumm and Schramsburg have much higher end wines but since you didn't know what you wanted I assumed you didn't want something expensive. Folie a Deux makes a nice white table wine that's relatively inexpensive. Conundrum is better but 3 times the price.

Posted by: kclightman on 2007-07-24, 13:44:42

More than matching the colors, it's important to match the flavor of a wine to a meal. The rule of thumb for wine pairings is to match flavors - sweet with sweet foods, acidic with tangy foods, robust with strong flavors, etc. This is so that the food and the wine don't overshadow each other and you can still taste both. I imgaine the salsa will be somewhat sweet, so you may want to go with a sweeter wine - certainly a robust one. I would pick a Chardonnay, myself, or a White Merlot.

Posted by: Kathy H on 2007-07-24, 16:19:46

If the dish is going to be a spicy dish, I'd serve it with a Riesling. Rieslings have a floral aroma. They range from very dry and crisp to intensely sweet depending on where it is from. German Riesling is slightly sweet and balanced with some acidity. California Riesling tends to be sweeter.

Posted by: Lucy on 2007-07-24, 16:30:25

Yummy! Your dinner sounds awesome. I would suggest a dry, fruity white wine like Gewurztraminer or Riesling.

Posted by: Gabi ? on 2007-07-26, 00:54:30

Gewuerztraminer, definitely ! asian inspired dishes are complimented nicely by this wine, especially if you are using ginger, and chiles.