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At the Table
Customers often ask me, ‘What is the best wine to have with this dish?’ My
reply has changed a lot over the years. I used to embark on pseudo-poetic dissertation
on the merits of a particular wine and how its certain components would compliment
a particular dish; “The smoky notes from the oak treatment on this Chardonnay
will enhance the butter sauce by bringing out its nutty elements, the peach
and apricot aromas will bring out the natural sweetness of the scallops, the
minerality and chalkiness will add hidden accents of the seabed paying tribute
to the shellfish’s origins, and the acidity will cleanse the palate allowing
you to travel along the sensuous road to culinary ecstasy” Pretty good
stuff, huh?
Well, over time I realized that the story had a greater impact than the physiology
of drinking wine with food. Most people do not seek out the perfect wine for
the perfect dish. This quest, noble as it is, is Quixotic at best. It seems
to me that the main thing that makes food or wine taste good is nothing other
than contextual. True, the food has to be good and the wine has to be good
but let me put it this way; a filet mignon on a paper plate does not taste
the same. Nor does a nice glass of Champagne in a plastic cup. The most important
contextual element is the company that you are with. I used to joke around
with an old Chef friend of mine that it was funny that when we went out with
the boys we always drank big fat Cabernets or Shiraz or tannic Italian wines.
The gritty intensity of all the testosterone at the table played right in.
We were drinking intense wines and would all order rare steaks on the bone.
When one of us went out with a lady, we drank Pinot Noirs, Sauvignon Blancs
and Rieslings. We were acting charming, sophisticated and cultured. We would
order a small appetizer of Foie Gras followed by a delicate fish like Turbot
or Dover Sole and possibly finish with a salad or a cheese plate. You could
say that we are being superficial but really we are adapting to the circumstance.
There is a time and a place to act in a certain way.
Now, it is true that certain wines go better with certain dishes. The flavor
and regional profile of a particular dish has a wine pairing. For example,
Rhone wines will go well with dishes that have a Mediterranean accent. Also,
a Chianti will go well with a Tuscan dish. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay go well
with chicken and mushrooms. This combination is famous in Burgundy where those
two grapes are grown alongside farms that raise the best chickens and cultivate
the best mushrooms in the world. Easy enough, right? Syrah with lamb, Cabernet
with Duck Confit, Sauvignon Blanc with shellfish. All regional pairings and
all match up great. I could go on and on but I am afraid that I would revert
to my old ways.
My answer to the question at hand is now quite simple; “The wine that
you like most” You can’t get simpler than that. Whatever you like
will go best with the food because it goes best with yourself. If you like
Chardonnay, you can have it with a steak. This may sound revolutionary but,
hey, this country was built on revolutionary ideas. After tasting thousands
of wines over the years, I can tell you that there is only one thing that prevents
a wine from matching up well to a dish. Balance. If the wine is not balanced
in all its attributes, it will negatively affect the palate. A well made wine
by a good winemaker can go with anything. Off balance is analogous to playing
a tune and continuously striking a wrong note within a musical bar. It sounds
abrasive, awkward and distracting. However, to continue on with the musical
metaphor, beautiful music of any kind sounds fluid and harmonious and can go
with any situation. Truly, we each have preferences and so I can listen to
Miles Davis or John Coltrane and enjoy Alaskan Halibut, a cheeseburger or a
bowl of cereal. Each in different ways, of course, but each with equal satisfaction.
I decided then, upon this revelation, that I would select wines for a wine
list that would be balanced and drinking well right now. I would also select
a variety of wines that would satisfy the continuum of tastes so that anyone
could find a wine on the list that matched their taste. The rest would then
be easy. Whatever style of wine you like, you would find on the list and then
you could go on and enjoy the meal concentrating on the most important component
of the experience – your company. There would be no off keys or proverbial
clanking from the wine. There would only be harmony. No distractions. Only
the friendship, the intimacy or the romance. What more can you ask for?
To illustrate how much context is important, I will tell you of the best wine
I ever had. My wife and I were in the Basque town of St. Jean-De-Luz on the
French-Spanish border in the summer of ‘98. We had just filled a liter
bottle with red wine at the local co-op where everyone in the area got their
wine. Young, fruity wine but good. We had spent the afternoon going through
the markets picking fresh figs, compotes and preserves made by little old French
grandmothers according to the secret recipes of their families, cheeses made
by local artisans and grilled sardines from the docks where fishermen were
pulling up sacks of the glittery silvered fish and popping them on the grill.
Total cost? Twelve dollars U.S. We walked up the road to the cliffs that descend
on the Atlantic and perched ourselves with feet dangling and toes wiggling
facing the sun setting directly ahead of us. A lonely fisherman in a wooden
boat in the distance sat immobile savoring the tranquility and peace of this
day’s waters. The light breeze paced up the cliffs and danced up upon
faces softly caressing our cheeks with a gentle tickle. She laid out all the
food on a checkered blanket while I poured the wine into two small glass cups.
We paused for a moment more, looking out to the sea and the sun then to each
other. I leaned forward and kissed her. I told her that I loved her and we
drank the wine. This was indeed the best wine I ever had. Not bad for a $2
buy.
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