Perfect wines to pair with home cooking
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GREAT recipes make for delicious home cooked meals, but don’t forget the wines. The right wines served properly will make an already tasty dinner even more delicious and enjoyable. Wines for home cooking should be reasonably priced and versatile in terms of food pairing. In this week’s column I’ll introduce a trio of deliciously homey wines.
Prosecco DOC wines fit all the criteria for great home-drinking wines. They’re inexpensive, fresh, fruity and they pair exceptionally well with a host of Chinese, Asian and Western dishes. Feel free to pop the cork and enjoy a glass while you’re cooking. Personally I find a glass of Prosecco in the kitchen leads to decidedly more inspired culinary results. Prosecco DOC is a wine region and a style of sparkling wine from the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions in Northeastern Italy. Glera is the primary grape and it must comprise at least 85 percent of all Prosecco DOC wines. Distinct from Champagne and other traditional method sparklers where the second fermentation happens in the bottle, Prosecco wines are made using the Charmat method.
This quick and easy method of second fermentation that put the bubbles into the wine also contributes to the remarkably fruity and friendly character of Prosecco.
I suggest pairing the drier Prosecco Brut wines with appetizers, fresh seafood and delicate white meat dishes and the slightly sweeter Prosecco Extra Dry wines with robustly flavored or spicy dishes. Fine Prosecco producers who have wines that are easy to find in Shanghai are La Tordera, Tenuta S Anna, Carpene Malvoti, Villa Pasini, Zonin and Bisol.
Another winning wine style for home cooking is Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. These reasonably priced, fruity and zesty whites pair nicely with about anything you can cook at home, save for red meat. Most Chilean Sauvignon Blancs have little or no oak aging and exhibit a range of zesty lime, grapefruit, passion fruit, pineapple and apple flavors along with mineral and grassy notes and a bracingly dry finish. Mouthfuls of these stimulating flavors are a wonderful way to embellish your home dining pleasure.
When choosing a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc you should consider the region and producer. The best wines come from Chile’s elevated cool climate regions like Casablanca, San Antonio Valley, Coastal Aconcagua, Colchagua Valley or Northern Limari. Wines from warmer regions tend to have over-ripe fruit with dull flavors and flat acidity. You should also choose a quality producer known for their dedication to the varietal. There are still plenty of Chilean producers who make excellent reds and Chardonnays but treat their Sauvignon Blanc wines as an afterthought. Producers who make lovely Sauvignon Blanc wines include Carmen, Santa Rita, Miguel Torres, Casa Lapostolle and Vina Chocalan.
Until recently considered California’s red wine variety, Zinfandel actually has a parentage that dates back centuries to Southern Italy and Dalmatia, Croatia. Popular in California since the mid 19th century as a variety to make hearty red wines, the grape lost favor in the early 20th century. The grape remained quite anonymous for most of the century until it returned to favor in the 1970s in the form of a semi-sweet pink wine curiously called white Zinfandel. Not long after, California winemakers rediscovered the grape’s affinity for making dark colored, fragrant and fruity red wines. Pairing robust Zins with hearty home cooked fare is tasty and fun. Good Zinfandels offer an abundance of dark and red fruit flavors along with black pepper and other spicy touches that help make them lovely cool weather wines to pair with homemade winter dishes. Great dishes to enjoy with Zin include braised or roasted meats, game, cheese and spicy dishes. The soft tannins in these reds also gracefully facilitate digestion of heavy dishes. When choosing Zinfandels, I suggest sticking to producers that specialize in Zinfandels like Seghesio, Ridge and Ravenswood.
Serving
Quality wines deserve a good glass. Proper glasses should be transparent and ample in size. Glass is okay, but crystal is better as this material provides greater brilliance and tactility to wines. A small investment in quality glasses helps your wines perform better and also adds a touch of elegance to your table.
All wines are sensitive to the environment and should be served at the proper temperature. Prosecco DOC and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc whites are best enjoyed no higher than eight degrees Celsius. Due to relatively high alcohol and fruitiness, I also like to give Zinfandel reds a quick chill and serve them about 15-16 Celsius. This preserves the fresh qualities of the wine and mitigates sensations of alcohol.
Finally, Prosecco and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc wines are ready to drink as soon as you open them, but it’s a good idea to give Zinfandels some breathing time. Unlike more structured Cabernet Sauvignon wines that may need an hour or more breathing time, most Zinfandels are ready to drink after about 20-30 minutes.
Where to buy in Shanghai
Region & Style at a glance
Varieties:
Glera is by far the most important grape in Prosecco DOC wines, comprising a minimum of 85 percent of the blend, though many wines are 100 percent Glera.
Key Term:
Charmat, sometimes referred to as Martinotti-Charmat in Italy, is the second fermentation method used to make Prosecco DOC sparkling wines.
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