RSS
Home
Wine pairing on a fixed-budget
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
What wine to pair?
'The Art of Bending Fixed-budget Possibilities'
Whenever possible, one must bend the possible. Picasso once said that everything we imagine is real, meaning it all exists somewhere, even if only in our imaginations. And this is fundamental to the art of bending the possible. For in most cases doing this involves bending one’s own mind. The ancient Greeks had a term, Metanoia. It means, literally, “turning the mind”. In their mythology, acts of metanoia invariably involved divine intervention. This is why Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, was never far from her cleverest hero, inspiring the clever turns of mind that delivered Odysseus from harm and into the graces of benevolent kings and hospitable witches.
Wine and food, this is a category of Being, if you pay any attention at all to the loveliness of your senses. Have you had wine that makes your eyes pop wide, excited by the discovery of a new flavor? Have you had a meal that soothed away all ephemeral care? Please, do yourself the favor of seeking these pleasures. Life is long; it is endurable only when we compliment it with the simplest joys. And the perfect combination of good wine and good foods is one of the finer things that this life can provide. And the invention of these combinations is almost as much fun.
To Carignan or not to Carignan?
For instance, a difficult situation arose yesterday afternoon that required a light dose of metanoia. It began with a question: “What are we having for dinner?”
The budget of this poor wine columnist only allowed for peanutbutter and jelly. In fact, sadly, that’s practically all that sat in the fridge, aside from a loaf of multi-grain bread. So, the next logical question, to the mind of any wine columnist, became: “What wine pairs with that?”
An enjoyable, peachy Viognier...
My girlfriend and I decided to be ambitious and see what could be done with drier red wines, as opposed to sweet or semi-sweet reds; much less, the more obvious possibilities presented by white wine. After some fast-and-furious internet research, we were armed with a list of possibilities. We checked the usual outlets and some unusual ones... You should check out Fancy Fast Food for a mouthwatering laugh. In any case, four blocks up, on Queens Boulevard, is a great wine shop: Lowery Liquor & Wine Co. Of all the shops in the neighborhood, Lowery was the most likely to have what we were hunting or at least several other good alternatives. The decision concerning what jam to use would be based entirely on what wine was chosen. At the shop, we floated past the Argentineans, Australians and Italians into the oft ignored (by American palates) French labels. Unfortunately, the shop did not have any Old Vine Carignan. Neither their French selection nor their Chilean had it. And these were the two countries most likely to have had at least one brand of Carignan on a shelf here in Sunnyside, Queens. Though Israel and Spain, where it is thought to have originated, are also noted producers of this varietal. Failing Carignan, the search led to a perusal of Spanish Tempranillo, such as the organic Tempranillo, Balada. Despite Lowery’s excellent selection, nothing tempted. Then my girl shot me one of her stone-eyed glances and smiled. Something was on her mind. She leaned to my ear, whispering in a fake German accent: “What about the Wagner?” Instant metanoia.
It’s a joke we have. She was talking about Viognier. It’s a French grape varietal, from the Rhone region, that usually plays a supporting role in winemaking, blended into other varietals like Chardonnay to give a light, refreshing fruit lift to the mouthfeel. Since its near extinction in 1965, Viognier has begun to receive spotlight attention, however, particularly from wineries in California and New York.
Viognier wines are well-known for their floral aromas, due to terpenes, which are also found in Muscat and Riesling wines. There are also many other powerful flower and fruit aromas which can be perceived in these wines depending on where they were grown, the weather conditions and how old the vines were.
The week before we'd attended a wine tasting at Martha Clara vineyards, located just beyond Riverhead, NY. Of the wines sampled, we'd been particularly impressed by their 2007 Viognier. It had pungent, pleasing aromas, rich with peach and apricot with light, floral accents. Though somewhat sweeter than the typical Viognier, it was light and balanced in flavor. Viognier is popularly paired with seafood or spicy Thai cuisine. That said, it pairs well with peanutbutter and meshes exquisitely with honey!
So last night, rather than peanutbutter and jelly, as planned, we had peanutbutter and honey. And as we leaned back, side by side, with crystal goblets of 2007 Martha Clara Viognier in hand, munching the sandwiches, a sensation came over me. It was a simple sensation. The muscles in my face and shoulders relaxed, a feeling like melting. My tongue had tasted the meaning of happiness. And from the satisfied grin on my girl’s face, it seemed she’d tasted it too. What more can you ask for?
The moral of the story is this: sometimes it pays to go with the simpler, more obvious choice, as there's still sure to be plenty of possibilities ripe for discovery, if you set your mind to it.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
