what wine with ham?

[ksjm]

what wine should i drink when eating ham?

[Innkeeper]

Hi Ksjm, and welcome to the Wine Board. Depending on how complex your ham dish is going from most to least: pinot noir, Cru Beaujolais, Beaujolais, or a dry rose' such as Cotes Du Rhone Rose' or Taval. We even have a good Grenache Rose' from California with a simply grillpanned ham steak from time to time.

[mrdutton]

IK! What about Riesling or Gewurtz or an Alsatian?

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 01-05-2002).]

[Innkeeper]

Can't see salty with sweet.

[mrdutton]

I'm not sure I'm with you there. Salt and sweet are classic combinations.

Pass the watermelon, pass the salt! Cantalope and sea salt are a beautiful combination - makes the melon taste even sweeter than it really is!

Prosciutto with figs or melon.... another classic combination. Prosciutto with Pinot Grigio and what the heck it even goes okay with Prosecco.......

Roquefort with Sauternes and Stilton with Port..... classic matches of salt and sweet.

Germany's medium-dry and medium-sweet Rieslings often come to the rescue of a salt environment; they go so well with salty foods that require a bit of acid. (Acid being something that is lacking in tannic wines; explaining why tannin and salt don't go well.)

This also explains why Champagne and such things as fino and manzanilla sherries go so well with apetizers; most apetizers have a fair amount of salt in them.

Gewurtz with its spicy-sweet aroma and its finish (which is dry) with smoked salmon (no salt there, huh?).

A no brainer no-no is salt with tannin; it just does not match. And that explains your choices for reds, because they are low in tannin. Low-in-tannin red wine goes well with salt because it is also most likely high in acid.

So that being said, I see nothing wrong at all with a good Riesling or Gewurtz or Alsation going with ham......... or hey, how about a Cote Chalonnaise with a bit of ham?

[Thomas]

Can't see salt with sweet? You must be missing something IK. Actually, salt with fruit is a better way of looking at it--neither Riesling nor Gewurztraminer are necessarily sweet.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-07-2002).]

[Bucko]

Chateau Pignan???

[img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[barnesy]

Don't them Alsatians and Germans eat a lot of cured pork products? And them wacky Europeans tends to make their vinos for drinkin' with their vittles.

[img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

Barnesy

[mrdutton]

I'd sure like a rebuttal from IK on this subject.........

[Innkeeper]

Everybody has their own taste, and I'm not about to try to change that. Much prefer beer with salty food, if not red or rose' wine.

[grits]

Trimbach Gertz... or Bonny Doon Reisling

[Thomas]

Perhaps, but the reason I refrain from recommending specific brands is that there are so many out there it is best to explore. The Trimbach is a good, stable, but not spectacular Gewurztraminer. As for Bonny Doon Riesling, there are hundreds of better ones out there; it is the last place I would recommend for Riesling. In fact, Doon has been known to search the Finger Lakes for riesling grapes to make wine.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-21-2002).]

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-21-2002).]

[winedope]

foodie, I understand your knowledge and experience are valuable and I appreciate your input as well as that of the other knowledgeable folks I've found here. Is it really necessary to end most of your comments with negatives? Unless of course, they are expressed to help someone avoid a bad +/- costly mistake. WD

[Innkeeper]

Had a delicious grillpanned ham steak with a VME Pinot Noir tonight. Fantastic!!!

[winedope]

IK, please forgive my ignorance- VME?? WD

[Innkeeper]

Sorry, it's Villa Mt Eden ($10 or less); the drop dead best value in an American Pinot.

[Thomas]

winedope, the "negative" you refer to is what? That I refrain from giving specific recommendations choosing rather to talk about wine type instead of producer; that Trimbach produces reasonable, but not great wines; that Bonny Doon sources its grapes in the Finger Lakes (or has in the past); that I have a low opinion of California Riesling (I admit that Jekyl (sp) is among the best out that way).

Sorry if directness pains some. Also sorry that direct opinions and information seem negative to some. You can simply ignore me, think me an idiot (but not online, please) or read what I write in the spirit it is intended: to inform.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-22-2002).]

[winedope]

Foodie, I definitely don't think you are an idiot by any means. As I said I value your opinions and insights. It just seems that on many of your posts you give helpful hints and sometimes humorous tidbits, but you frequently seem to end on a down note, ie- the Bonny Doon, mentioned above. This does not seem to be the trend with the majority of people here, and I wasn't sure why. If i am misinterpreting your posts, please forgive me. WD PS- Thanks, IK, I've made a note of it.

[This message has been edited by winedope (edited 01-22-2002).]

[Thomas]

winedope, there is something about directness that many people find hard to swallow. I simply do not know why that is so, but I frequently get myself into scrapes over it. And writing on the Internet is not the most communicative means of discourse--you can't see the other's tongue in cheek when appropriate.

[winedope]

Foodie- thanks for the reply. I know what you mean, it is often hard to express exactly what you mean on such a means of communication. It would be nice if more people could be open in what they say instead of beating around the bush...then we would all know where we stand. I, myself have also gotten into a fix by saying what I think, not what people want to hear.

[This message has been edited by winedope (edited 01-23-2002).]