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Fields is said to have boasted that "He always cooked with wine and sometimes he even put some in the food." Humour aside, cooking with wine makes a lot of sense to me given the natural affinity wines have with food. Today we twist the theme of cooking with wine and explore our regular allotment of wines with some extended thoughts about matching the wines to the recipes in our extended Entrée section.
You don't have to cook with Gunderloch Fritz's Riesling 2007, but one sip will have you swooning all spring and summer and should you be daring to enough to match it up with Pino's lobster and linguine, you may never drink another wine.
It's not that often that first release wines hit home runs but Fritz Hasselbach the owner of Gunderloch has done just that with Fritz's Riesling. The grapes are purchased from five growers all with vineyards on the famous red slate soils of the Rheinhessen. The grapes are handpicked; the style is all about balance. Many blends were contemplated and assessed before this mix of 28 grams of residual sugar were combined with the bright acidity of the sensational 2007 harvest to produced this delicious wine.
Eminently sippable, this screwcap white with bright minerality and fresh fruit is tailor-made for the bustling Pan-Asian cuisine of Vancouver or even better with barbecued or pull pork dishes. This should definitely be one of your go-to value wines for the summer of 2009. Stock up by the case.
Equally suitable for the lobster is the Lungarotti Torre di Giano 2007, a trebbiano/grechetto blend from Umbria in Central Italy. Again it is the crisp, dry, round, elegant palate with grassy, smoky, mineral, lemon, green melon, almond, butter flavours that make the match. The acidity and somewhat austere styling of this wine makes it the perfect foil to the rich, sweet meat of the lobster, and frankly a much better match in my opinion than the classic pairing: usually a rich buttery chardonnay. Lungarotti continues to impress me with its ability to respect tradition, yet make very modern wines. All this needs is a screwcap to really take off in Canada. Available in select private wine stores.
A final suggestion for the lobster dish turns out to be one of the best new rosés in the market. Chat-en-Oeuf Dry Rosé 2008 is a blend of cinsault, grenache and syrah. From its appealing, super pale, eye-of-the-partridge colouring to its fabulously floral, fruity nose, this is as impressive as rosé gets for $14. Bracing citrus strawberry, red currant fruit flavours meld with a just a twist of lemon in the finish. Cool clean and food-friendly, this should work well with the lobster but would really excel with local, fresh Dungeness crab. Drink all summer.
Wednesday was cold enough to have me thinking about a stew; in fact it got me wondering whether this Victoria Day weekend would be another year in which we would light a fire in the old fireplace. Cold or not, and stew or just grilled beef, we offer three labels that can lift a stew or hamburger far above its class.
It's been three years now and the Castillo de Monséran Garnacha 2007 continues to over-deliver for its price point each vintage. The nose is mix of floral and fruity notes with plummy, raspberry fruit flavours and a dusting of spice in the finish. You make the call hamburgers, chicken and ribs, spareribs or stew. At this price you should pick up a half dozen bottles and store them for unexpected guests.
The latest Tormaresca Paiara 2006, a blend of negroamaro and cabernet sauvignon is the perfect rustic red for stews, hamburgers and grilled meats. Tormaresca is a project of Tuscan legend Piero Antinori. It's based in Puglia on the southeast coast of Italy where the long term goal is to restore the best of Italy's ancient grape varieties. Look for lovely warm, fat, ripe, rustic fruit aromas with a dose of smoke and tobacco. There are supple round textures on entry that leads to more jammy, floral flavours with wisps of dried southern Mediterranean herbs. A go-to barbecue wine for the summer months, but that will easily transition into pairing with fall stews and mushroom dishes. Great value from Puglia.
Our final wine makes a very strong case for the oft overlooked and sometimes over-extracted petite sirah. The Concannon Petite Sirah Limited Release 2005 boasts a California Central Coast appellation and a big spicy, floral, licorice, black-cherry nose flecked with orange peel and savoury chocolate notes. The entry is round, dry, supple and elegant. More orange peel, black cherry, coffee, spicy, mineral, tobacco, licorice, prune/plum flavours mark the palate. A bit tart on the finish, but with good fruit intensity and finesse. Good value here and no doubt would be a perfect match for the stew - cool weather and rain prevailing.
Gunderloch Fritz's Riesling 2007, Rheinhessen, Germany
Price: $17
UPC: 04022642000749
Score: 89/100
Remarks: Definitely one of my 2009 spring and summer go-to wines. Stock up early.
Lungarotti Torre di Giano 2007, Umbria, Italy
Price: $18
UPC: 08016044326107
Score: 86/100
Remarks: Elegant grassy, smoky, mineral, lemon, almond, green melon flavours.
Chat-en-Oeuf Dry Rosé 2008, Côtes-du-Ventoux, Southern Rhone, Rhone Valley, France
Price: $14
UPC: 03430560001693
Score: 88/100
Remarks: This is as impressive as rosé gets for $14.
Castillo de Monséran Garnacha 2007, Cariñena, Aragon, Spain
Price: $10
UPC: 3378630306227
Score: 85/100
Remarks: You make the call: hamburgers, chicken and ribs or spareribs.
Tormaresca Paiara Negroamaro - Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Apulia, Italy
Price: $12
UPC: 8026530000336
Score: 86/100
Remarks; Great value from Puglia.
Concannon Petite Sirah Limited Release 2005, Central Coast, California, United States
Price: $19
UPC: 081908635471
Score: 88/100
Remarks: Orange peel, black cherry, coffee, spicy, mineral, plum flavours.
