spicy peanut sauce

[JohnG]

We're having a dinner party in a week or so and are serving gado-gado, which is a spicy peanut sauce (ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, onion)of indonesian origin served over vegetables and/or meat. It's very tasty, but we've never served it with wine and are a little bit unsure of what would match well. Any recommendations?

Thanks much!

John

[Innkeeper]

Would serve it with the jammiest zin I could find. If you can find a ready French Camp Vineyard, Paso Robles Zin, that would do it.

[Drew]

Spicy Thai food screams Reisling...

Drew

[Kcwhippet]

I was thinking the same thing, Drew, and maybe even a Gewurztraminer.

[Thomas]

Riesling, Muscat, each with a lot of fruit, and some residual sugar.

I don't think dry Gewurztraminer will cut it, and I don't think those syrupy Gewurztraminers from California are worth buying--my opinion, of course...

...and I do not represent any of the European wine producers so I won't post my email for you to contact me.

[Innkeeper]

Not talking about spicy Thai food here. Talking about spicy Indonesian food here. That is like confusing Italian with French.

[Drew]

I don't know if I'd go that far, IK, maybe like different dialects or at least what we get in this Country as Thai and Indonesian cuisine.

Drew

[JohnG]

Thanks much for the recommendations. We went with a Seghesio Sonoma County zinfandel and Bonny Doon's Pacific Rim reisling. Despite being very different wines, both went very nicely with the peanut sauce. It seems that the common thread is that both provide some sweetness to complement the spiciness of the sauce -- the zin from fruit and the reisling from a touch of sugar.

[Thomas]

So, we were all correct--in part.

Thanks for letting us know how it went.