wine lists?

[Randy Caparoso]

Thanks, but I'm not really done. I just ran out of energy the other day. On another thread, Bucko talked about matching Alsace grown Gewurztraminer -- known for its "spicy," peppery/lychee-like pefume and flavor -- with Thai food, which is known for its spicy hot, chile pepper derived qualities.

Well, in this case the idea of serving like-with-like (i.e. similarity) -- that is, "spicy" Gewurztraminer with "spicy" Thai food -- is not generally recommended. Why? Because there are other elements in Gewurztraminers that tend to intensify searing sensations of chile pepper to the point of unpleasantness. These elements are the tendency of Alsace grown Gewurztraminers to be high in alcohol (giving a "hot" taste to the palate) and also a little hard in bitter phenolic compounds (basically, tannin). And so when paired with Thai food -- or for that matter, Szechuan, Vietnamese, or Japanese schimchimi spiced foods, all of which are often balanced by sweet/sour components -- the high alcohol and bitter qualities of Gewurztraminer tend to exacerbate, rather than smooth out, chile pepper flavors in foods.

So what does one drink with spicy Asian style food? Water from the hose? No, there are a number of perfectly wonderful wines which offer CONTRASTING qualities that cool off the palate and round out chile charged food spices. What you need are lighter alcohol style whites with slight degrees of sugar such as German Rieslings and French grown Chenin Blanc (bottled as Vouvray). Lower alcohol avoids emphasis of heat, while sugar softens the impact of chile peppers. But hot food wines don't necessarily have to be sweet. Dryer light alcohol whites can also work -- particularly Trocken or Halbtrocken style German Rieslings, Loire Valley grown Sauvignon Blancs (such as Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, Pouilly-Fume and Quincy), Sauvignon Blancs as well as Rieslings from New Zealand, and even Pinot Gris from Oregon or Italy (the latter bottled as Pinot Grigio).

Then there are situations where you dress up fatty meats such as pork ribs, beef and even lamb in hot chile spiced marinades and/or sauces. Red wines go better with fatty meats, and so the thing to do is to alleviate the spicy flavors by selecting red wines that are very low in tannin -- in other words, not so bitter so as not to amplify the heat in the food -- such as Pinot Noir, and wines made from the Gamay grape (French Beaujolais) or the Lemberger from Austria or Washington St.

In summary, when it comes to hot foods, think CONTRAST rather than similarity!