Responsible Indulgence: April Wine Notes
Spice Up Spring
I am struck by the quality of the blue sky today. It is a unique color that I look forward to with anticipation each April. I also associate it with my repeated fool heartedly stubborn insistence to begin wearing flip flops and skirts far too early and the inevitably freezing my butt off all day. I am fifty-two, so you would think that I would have learned better by now. Nope. Even today, that beautiful blue sky told me not to wear socks; “no,” it said, “Maria, you don’t need a coat,” and I listened. Ha! I am chilled through, so I have a hankering for something with a little spice to warm me from inside. This all gave birth to my theme for the wine club this April—Spice it Up. The wines either offer the fruit to quiet the spice in food or offer the spice itself. In truth, I am also influenced by the new spices we have arriving from SOS Chefs. I am so excited about this arrival on our shelves. We walked a ways downtown, to go there today—in the wrong shoes and without a coat—and we had a blast selecting our spices for dinner from an impressive wall of spices. This was a serious culinary journey, which has taken us back out twice because we either forgot something or bought the wrong thing. I am happy to do it; it is the cross I have to bear. Yes, I love my job. I hope to inspire you to cook beyond the boundaries of your comfort, too, and without recipes with the most beautiful spices I have ever come across. Seriously, I swooned inside that shop with all the beautiful aromas swirling around my head.
As I write, I am enjoying the smells of our very own Chinese Five Spice mix. It is toasting—Fennel Seeds, Cinnamon, Clove, Star Anise, and Red & Green Szechuan Peppercorns. Ground by hand in my new mortar and pestle, then gently toasted before being judiciously added to our stir-fry. I am not going to lie; I am proud. I have never attempted making Chinese food before, nor have I ever used this many different spices in just one dish! I am going boldly down the spice path, which makes me very excited for both the dish and even more so for the rosé that is chilling to accompany this dish. Pairing wine with spice and heat is not without its challenges, but the general strategy is to keep it simple, go for abundant fruit and juiciness, and avoid tannins. That said, you know that I like to break the rules.
VALUE WINES
I chose the 21 Zestos Rosado to accompany the heat of our Sizzled Five Spice Shrimp and Fresno Peppers with slivered scallions. I am going to throw one Hank’s Claw Pepper in there, too—I am aware that I mixing culinary cultures, but that is how I roll. The dish needs some additional heat. We found some beautiful Carolina Shrimp at The Tin Building (thank you Jean George for that treasure). This is a versatile rosado made from old vine Garnacha from Spain. It is also a super value with quality and character that far exceeds its modest price point. The wine has inviting floral notes and mineral aromas that makes me dream of dipping into ocean water. The fruit is ripe on the front palate with lots of strawberry and pomegranate, dried and fresh cherry and grapefruit. It is the balance of fruitiness and brightness of acidity that gives it character and makes it a good match for this dish. It has had a year in the bottle to settle down, which means the fruit is a bit more prevalent than the acidity, giving it a nice smooth mouth feel.
One could also go for the 21 Pianoro Trebbiano d'Abruuzo with a spicey dish, but I am going save that one for the aglio olio that I will make tomorrow. I am venturing far from my culinary roots, so I may need to return to the comfort zone. You could enjoy either red or white with this dish, but this Trebbiano from Abruzo is ideal. The garlic gives us plenty of heat, but I always add a pinch of good peperoncino for an additional kick. The fruit on the Pianoro is fresh and clean, it has lovely lemon notes that balance the heat and fat in the dish. You will pick up on some peach, green apple and stoney minerality, too. It is dry and fresh, but smooth. This is a food-flexible wine that is also nice just on its own.
The 19 Chateau Barrail-Meyney will warm you all on its own with its dark ruby alluring garnet color, brambly red and blue fruits, vibrantly bright acidity, and its youthful charm. It may seem young for a Bordeaux, but this Entre-deux-Mers is ready to go. Made with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a seductive pinch of Cabernet Franc. It calls for earth, so I suggest mushrooms sautéed with thyme, shallots, garlic, and butter. I suggest that you add these liberally to whatever you like, eggs, pasta, rice, steak, or just a piece of toast would work!
For reds that can handle some heat, there are actually a lot of options, but juicy is the key. This means that the wine has an intensity of fruit aromas and flavors. Don’t think sweet, that is a different thing altogether. Fruitiness diffuses heat. The 18 Winery of Good Hope Pinot Noir comes to us from two vineyards in Western Cape of South Africa in Stanford and Stellenbosch and from two Burgundian clones (115 & 777). These combine to give the wine depth and lift, intensity of flavor, fruit, and freshness. The fruity nature of this pinot makes it an ideal pairing for spicy foods. Pair this one with Thai or Indian flavors, it will shine with those complex combinations. As would the 19 Ludovicus Tinto Garnacha, though this wonderful red has some spice of its own. You are going to love this new one, which comes to us from the Terra Alta region outside of Barcelona. 100% Garnacha from 20-30 year old vines grown at an elevation of nearly 1200 feet. It is ripe, juicy and vibrant, which is the perfect contrast to heat—so go get some peppers and start experimenting.
The trick with spice and heat is primarily fruit, which cools the palate after a spicy bite. It need not be sweet, just fruit forward. That means the wine presents its fruitiness before its other elements and in excess of the acid and tannins. The 21 Vorspannhof Mayr Grüner Veltliner has abundant and aromatic fruit on the front palate, but this wine delivers much more than just fruit. It has a wonderful earthiness that is a result of whole cluster pressing. That means that the stems contribute to the flavor of the wine, lending a depth and complexity of flavor. I am thinking about lemongrass, mandarin, oyster shells, and honeysuckle. Vietnamese spring rolls, Indian curries, but also just some delicious corn tortillas with a salsa verde—put green with green!
SELECT WINES
To begin with, the 21 Chateau Mesclans "Romane," Provence Rosé will serve well with lighter fare. It brings the fruit for our spice and heat discussion, and I imagine that would have served well with my spicy shrimp dish because it mirrors the flavor character of that dish. It has fresh berry notes, followed by depth and richness of texture and flavor, and finishes with candied lemon curd that is accompanied by a savory quality that invokes spring onions. I am going to grab a bunch and dust off my grill for this wine. I could marinate the shrimp in my Chinese Five Spice that I now have in my toolkit, add loads of garlic and ginger, and toss them all on the grill together. That dish with this classic Provencal Rosé will delight!
If it is fruit, body, and minerality we seek for our spice and heat, then look no further than Chardonnay. It is hard not to include this one. The 21 Clos des Rocs Maçon-Loche is fermented in 25% neutral oak and the rest in steel, so it had more fresh bright fruit on the front, still that nice cooling richness on the midpalate, and then green apple on the finish. It is refreshing, which is what we seek with these spicy flavors. There is a lot of flexibility, but avoid tannins. This Chardonnay works for that reason. Not unlike the 20 Barth Racines Metisses, which is a delightful blend of Pinot Auxerrois, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling. This easy drinking wine has citrus, lime flower, peach, apple, pear, and exotic fruits, mandarin with a subtle spice of its own. Made from a small organic plot by Laurent Barth to provide an approachable white. These two whites can take the heat, so turn it up!
For reds at the Select level that pair well with spice the guidelines are the same; abundant fruit and low tannins are the long and short of it. Given that, it should be no surprise that I would include another Pinot Noir in the mix this month, but I wanted to give you something that might surprise you a little. The 21 Grosjean Pinot Noir comes from a tiny family farmstead in the Italian Alps, in the Vallée d’Aoste. That’s right, a unique varietal for Italy. Truth be told, this is a hard one to get, so I had to give it to my deserving club members, but it fits in with my theme seamlessly. The wine has a vibrant energy and juicy fruit. It is more dense then might be expected from this alpine climate with depth and brambly fruit along with classic flavors of cherry and granite.
One recommendation that I make with certain spicy dishes is to go big and bold. This doesn’t always work, but sometimes it is just what the doctor ordered and it is, more importantly, what you are in the mood for. On those occasions when you are making bolder dishes like spicy barbeque, Mexican mole (you are truly bold!), steak fajitas, and chili that have a warming aspect and potentially smokey flavors along with complex flavors from chiles, chocolate, nuts, and other aromatic spices, you need to go boldly to bold. Don’t fear a little tannins on these bigger wines, we need them to give structure to all that fruit. My guess is that the fruit will dominate enough for our purposes, and these dishes also have more fat, so they can handle a little tannin and acid.
The 20 Mas de Capitelles Faugeres is deep in color and intensely aromatically alluring. It has aromas and flavors of red and black cherry, blackcurrants, blackberry, plum, with its own set of spices from leather to cedar, earth, licorice, pepper, and baking spices. I know what you are thinking; it sounds like a meal. It is complex and intense. That said, it also has the acidity to balance that intensity and tannins to give it structure, so it is a beautiful Mourvedre, Syrah, Carignan blend. Similarly, the 16 Gabrielskloof Red Blend gives abundant and complex flavors with structure and acidity that allows the wine to remain refreshing and cleansing. Ultimately with heat we need to cool, cleanse, and refresh for the next bite, particularly with these richer flavors. This delicious South African Bordeaux blend achieves that with some of the same flavor characteristics of the dishes I described—I think this one wants barbeque!
COLLECTOR WINES
For the final collector level, the wines need to be age-worthy. There is a quality to a collectable bottle that allows for age, and that is a combination of the natural propensity of varietals from certain regions, but also it has a human component. The techniques used in vinification will contribute to how long a wine can age.
You need balance, complexity, and intensity. The wine needs tannins for structure, but it also needs sugar, alcohol, and acidity in balance with those tannins. These elements come together to preserve the wine, so it will last for many years and will continue to develop in interesting and delicious ways.
With heat and spice in mind, along with age worthiness, Rioja immediately comes to mind. Rioja features Tempranillo and are known for rich fruit, savory and earthy flavors, herbs, and oak. Typically oak would be a “no, no” with spice, but considering the regional foods, we will quickly dismiss any concern about these wines pairing well with foods with heat and spice. (Queue the clip from Birdcage when Hank Azria asks, “Are you afraid of my heat?!”) These wines resoundingly claim a place at the spicey table! The 15 Remelluri Rioja and the 10 Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Rioja come from historic estates that have families dedicated to producing classically made Rioja for many generations.
Remelluri recently changed hands, but Jamie Rodrguez is dedicated to maintaining the estate’s greatness. At both wineries, the grapes are hand selected, choosing only the best quality bunches for their reserve level wines. The wineries both use oak judiciously to obtain the style of wine they desire, while also providing the structure for long aging. (Note the vintages, these are current releases!) These wines are not identical, so I suggest that you taste them together to see which appeals to you. If you are like me, you will love them both for their own unique qualities. These are both highly allocated wines, my stock went entirely to my club members, but more will come, so order now for the futures.
I trust that I have provided enough of a selection from Tuesday night bottles to those special occasion wines to stand up to some spice in the kitchen. Have fun and let me know what works best for you. As always, if you see a wine on this list that is not in your monthly subscription, let me know and I will hold one for your next pick up!
Cheers, Maria