The High/Low Issue
Champagne and fried chicken anyone? How about a glass of Third Growth Bordeaux with your Big Mac?
Whether you’re serving up street food or haute cuisine here are some helpful tips to help you pair food and wine like a pro:
The dominant flavour trumps protein.
White for white and red for red is an outmoded precept.
What grows together goes together.
Think Tuscan wines and tomato-based dishes, Cava and Iberian ham, Saturnes and Roquefort. Before globalization and sophisticated import/export markets winemakers made wines that favoured the local cuisine.
Consider the intensity of aroma , flavour , and texture.
Pair light foods with lighter wines and heavier, richer foods with weightier, more full-bodied wines. Similarly, highly aromatic wines will be best suited to intensely flavoured and aromatic foods.
Tannic wines need fat.
Highly tannic wines need fatty foods for balance. Think Cali Cab and a New York Strip.
Acidic wines cut through fatty foods.
Acidic wines have a palate-cleansing effect on highly fatty foods.
Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Origin: Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, France
Vintage: 2017
Grape(s): Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Counoise
Style: Dry, full-bodied, firm
Price: $93.95
High/Low Pairing: Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape & Pepperoni Pizza
Arguably one of the most recognizable AOC’s of France, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the 17 crus of the Rhône Valley.
This wine is full-bodied and firm and brimming with dark fruits - plum, black current, black cherry and blackberries. It’s tannic structure is underscored by notes of black tea and cedar.
This is a Grenache dominant blend with high everything - alcohol, tannin, acid - and a hefty, lengthy, finish.
High/High Pairing: Braised lamb shank with baked polenta and parsley-mint gremolata.
Low/Low Pairing: Swap this wine for a Côtes du Rhône AOC such as: Famille Perrin Réserve Côtes du Rhône - $16.95 or, Domaine Autrand Côtes du Rhône - $14.95.
Schloss Johannisberg Grünlack Riesling Spätlese
Origin: Rheingau, Germany
Vintage: 2018
Grape(s): Riesling
Style: Sweet, aromatic, fruity
Price: $61.95
High/Low Pairing: Schloss Johannisberg Grünlack Riesling Spätlese
& Spicy Chicken Pad Thai & Mango Salad
At Schloss Johannisberg, they grow only one grape variety - Riesling - and have done so since 1720. In the Rheingau region where this grape dominates they’ve committed to ‘inspiring’ people through top-quality Riesling production. Their Spätlese is a flagship wine of the region.
Spätlese is a term that refers to the ripeness level of the grapes at harvest.
German wine has long had a marketing and branding problem. Ask any sommelier or wine professional for a list of their favourite wines and German Riesling is sure to make their top-5. And yet, most consumers find German wines on the whole to be confounding, busy, and among their least favourite.
This is why many German wine producers have begun modernizing and anglicizing their labels. But not Schloss Johannisberg! Which is, in part, why I fell so quickly and deeply in love with this wine. It’s a gaudy, traditional nod to the old world and I can’t take my eyes off it.
It also happens to be a superb wine.
It opens with intense aromatics of stewed yellow apple, lemon zest, flint, white florals and over-ripe peach. The palate adds mango and hard pineapple candy.
The acidity level is what sommeliers would describe as searing. It makes your mouth water even before you’ve tasted it.
This wine was an absolute joy to drink now but would easily age another 10 + years.
High/High Pairing: Pork Tenderloin with Date and Cilantro Relish.
Low/Low Pairing: Swap this wine for one of these entry-level Rieslings: Loosen Bros. Dr. L Riesling - $14.95 or, Clean Slate Riesling - $13.00. I’ve poured both of these crowd-pleasers at various German wine tasting events.
Caves d'Esclans Rock Angel
Origin: Côtes de Provence AOC, Provence, France
Vintage: 2017
Grape(s): Grenache, Rolle
Style: Dry, full-bodied, fruity
Price: $51.95
High/Low Pairing: Caves d'Esclans Rock Angel Rosé & Chicken Fingers with Fries
For those occasions - like when you’re Christening your new Yacht - and a $30 rosé just won’t cut it, the makers of Whispering Angel have got you covered with this Grenache-dominant blend from the region of La Motte en Provence.
This is a dry rosé with full-body and high alcohol. The nose is clean and lively with notes of strawberry, peach, and saline. The palate adds savoury notes.
Despite what the colour and packaging might suggest, this is a serious wine with 14% alc./vol. and would certainly be best served with a meal, vs. on its own.
High/High Pairing(s): Grilled Salmon with Olive and Tomato Relish, Grilled Sardines, Lobster Salad with Avocado and diced Celery.
Low/Low Pairing: Swap this wine for another, less expensive, Provençal rosé such as: Château la Tour de l'Évêque Rosé - $19.95 or, this one, Léoube Love Rosé - $25.95, which I had the pleasure of trying with some girlfriends last week with Ruffles plain potato chips. The salty, oil flavours worked perfectly with this wine.
A note on the vintage: Although the LCBO lists the 2018 as the only vintage currently in stock, the bottle I tasted was a 2017. This is probably an inventory control and shelving error on part of the LCBO. If you choose to pick up a bottle of this wine check that it’s a 2018. While this wine was excellent, and I doubt the 2018 would differ much, rosé is meant for youth and I would favour the 2018.
Saint-Estèphe de Calon-Ségur
Origin: Saint-Estèphe AOC, Bordeaux, France
Vintage: 2016
Grape(s): Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Style: Dry, full-bodied, tanic
Price: $48.00
High/Low Pairing: Saint-Estèphe de Calon-Ségur & a Big Mac, baby!
This is the third wine from a Third Growth Bordeaux. Let me break this down for you.
In 1855 a list of the most pedigreed wines of Bordeaux was drawn up by the Gironde Chamber of Commerce ahead of that years Paris Exhibition. They were classified into five groupings, or Growths, based on their reputation and selling price at the time. This classification is unchanging. Chateau Calon-Ségur was classified at this time as a Third Growth.
Top tier wineries often self-classify their wines, producing a Grand Vin, a second and sometimes a third label. In this case, this wine is the third label of Calon-Ségur.
Saint-Estèphe is a red wine appellation located in the subregion of Médoc in Bordeaux’s Left Bank. 2016 was a highly regarded vintage in Bordeaux.
This wine exhibits wonderfully fresh and fruity notes of plum, fresh cherries and wild raspberries. These aromas and flavours move through to weightier, woodsy, earthy notes of French oak, cedar, and tomato vine.
This wine is effortlessly smooth. It’s the kind of wine everyone loves at a dinner party.
High/High Pairing(s): Rack of lamb served with roasted fingerling potatoes and cherry tomatoes tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with flakey sea salt
Low/Low Pairing: Swap this wine for a basic red Bordeaux such as Château Recougne - $15.95 or, a Bordeaux Supérieur such as Château Argadens - $18.95.
Piper Heidsieck Brut Champagne
Origin: Champagne, France
Vintage: NV
Grape(s): Pinots Noir & Meunier, Chardonnay
Style: Dry, bubbly, refreshing
Price: $59.95
High/Low Pairing: Piper Heidsieck NV Champagne & Fried Chicken
Why it works: The acid and bubbles cut through the fat and oils of fried chicken.
Pear, apple, lemon, and lime. This signature cuvee of the House of Piper Heidsieck bursts with fresh fruit and acidity and never fails to please.
Tight bubbles give way to the quintessential notes of brioche and hazelnut skins that culminate in a creamy-textured, lengthy finish.
High/High Pairing(s): Lobster pappardelle in a butter-cream sauce, seared scallops
Low/Low Pairing: Swap this Champagne for another traditional method sparking wine such as: Chateau de Montgueret Cremant de Loire Brut - $19.95 or a high acid Chardonnay like this
