January 14, 2010

The vintage
is made and tucked away for a long winter’s nap, the frenzy of the holidays
with its heavy-duty wine and food focus is over, so what’s a winery to do
during these gloomy cold winter months? 
Have fun of course! 
Outdoors we’re setting up the winter snow bar and fire pit, and inside
we’re preparing to do wine & cheese pairings in January and wine and
chocolate pairings in February….”pairing” being the operative word here.

So
just what is the secret to successful wine and food pairing?

The reality
is that some people just don’t care. 
They like cheese.  They like
chocolate.  They like food.  They like wine.  Just enjoy it all, the more the
better.  But some of us foodies
simply can’t let it go at that.  We
love to create exciting combinations, what I call the “one and one is three”
principle.  You have the wine.  You have the food.  And when you taste them together, if
the marriage is good, you create a totally new entity, number three.

So
just what is the secret to successful wine and food pairing?

Let’s start
with the basics.  In the simplest
view, there are really only two types of wine made in the world.  Forget all the regions, the grape
varieties and the producers.  There
are the simple light fresh fruity wines made for consuming young.  And there are the big rich earthy wines
that are more complex and will hold up and age for a longer period.  They may be red or white, they may be
sweet or dry, but they will still fall in these two categories.

Those
who want to know why can read this paragraph, but if you’re on a “need to know
basis” and don’t care about the explanation, skip this section!  The way light fresh fruity wines are
made is to do as little intervention as possible – the grape starts out fresh
and fruity, you press off the fresh juice, you ferment it to turn the sugar into
alcohol and you put it in a neutral, impermeable container to age a bit.  A home winemaker would use a glass
carboy; in our commercial cellars we use large stainless steel tanks.  Nothing added, nothing gained: the wine
comes out a few months later light and fresh and fruity.  On the other hand, you can age the
wines in oak barrels where many changes occur to add depth and flavor and
complexity.  The wood breaths and
the wine evaporates and thickens (read: big body).  Oxidation occurs to change the color and flavor.  Vanillans are extracted from the wood
as are tannins, which are natural preservatives so the finished wine holds up
longer….and so on. 

Back to
pairing.  To make the best wine and
food matches, you need to think of foods in the same terms.  Use light fresh fruity whites (example:
Pinot Grigio, Alberino, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling) to go with light fresh
foods, like fruits and veggies, fresh pasta dishes (think Pasta Pesto and
Marinara sauces)and simple delicate seafoods, fish and  poultry recipes (like those using
lemon).  Use light reds (like
Beaujolais Nouveau, Italian Chiantis and some Pinot Noirs) with light simply
prepared meat dishes like chicken (Cacciatore?) and veal and pork, made with
fresh herbs and spices.

When the
foods get more complex, when you make big rich sauces and gravies, when you
introduce textural elements like butter and cream and cheese, the wines need to
be more complex as well.  For
dishes like Pasta Carbonara, try a rich oak-aged Chardonnay or big oily
Viognier.  And then there are
reds!  Big bodied, complex,
full-flavored reds are my passion, both to make and to drink.  The big bold California Cabs.  The even bolder Aussie Shiraz.  Sinful big-ass Zins. The classic
Bordeaux and Burgundy wines, though who wants to pay those prices anymore?  Better bargains in South American
Merlots and Malbecs.  This is where
you go (where I go most nights) with a big juicy steak, Boeuf Bourguignon,  grilled lamb chops, any rich game dishes
and good ole’ greasy burgers and meat-lovers’ pizza.  Wine and food pairing just doesn’t get any better than that!

How
Can You tell the Difference?

So how do you know how to identify “light fresh fruity wines”
from “big rich earthy” wines – short of tasting them?  Here’s two easy methods, saving you the time and expense of
attending numerous wine classes or tastings.  (1)  Ask the
experts!  Cork dorks just love to
talk about these things and always have recommendations.  At your favorite wine shop, tell the
clerk you’re looking for a nice light fresh fruity dry white to go with your Sole
Almondine.  Or a big full-bodied
red for a rich venison stew.  In
your favorite restaurant tell the Sommelier you’re having Pasta Primavera and
would like an older barrel-aged white to accompany it.  They’ll think you’re very
knowledgeable!

(2)  Check the
price!  If the wine was made in
stainless steel (that lasts for 100 years and was long ago paid for), if it
turns over quickly and is being sold as a young wine (say ‘08 or ‘09), the
winery doesn’t have a big investment in it and will sell it inexpensively (say
$10-$18) – and it will be the young/fresh variety.  But, if the winery buys expensive oak casks every year
(about $1000 for a 60 gallon barrel that may be used just once or twice), if it
sits on the floor for several years and ties up the winery’s money, if it’s
released as an older wine (say ’02 to ‘07), the price will be much higher
($20-$30 & the sky’s the limit) – you can be assured these wines are in the
second category. 

About Eric Miller

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Monday morning, 6:30 a.m.: I’m sitting on my couch half
asleep in my red fleece hoodie warm-ups, hugging a mug of hot coffee. As I
watch the morning news, the ribbon running across the bottom of the screen
proclaims, “Wilmington, 17 degrees.”

And now as I sit at my computer, my Lands End down vest over
my L.L. Bean turtleneck, I’m really looking forward to Thursday’s thaw.

My friends have been signing off their emails and phone
calls with a cheery, “Keep warm!”

Being cold in the winter brings up memories.

The first being about 10 year ago when I was hanging around
with “Mr. Re-enactor.”

The Director of Education with the Brandywine Battlefield
Park Associates, he was the consummate 18^th century re-enactor.  We were both members of the 43^rd
Regiment of Foot; the 2^nd Pennsylvania Regiment; the Weiser’s
Battalion as well as the Augusta Regiment.

During a weekend event he never stayed in hotels. He slept
in an 18th century tent with the rest of the diehards. And, as his dutiful
campfollower, I was expected to follow suit.

So, I’ve been drenched from an all-night downpour at Fort
Ticonderoga, N.Y.; nearly suffocated in the tent in the heat of tidewater
Williamsburg, Va. and froze my butt off in November’s frost at Hope Lodge, as
well as the meadows of Meander Plantation in the Shenandoah Valley of Va., all
in authentic 18^th century clothing. In the latter, I crawled out of
our tent the first morning and found a thin layer of ice on the water bucket.
Needless to say I was not a happy camper.

It also brought to mind the evening of Jan. 21, 1984.

In my first years in Chadds Ford I used to keep a journal.
Not only did I write about that night, but included an article from the Daily
Local News as verification.

The day before had been downright cold, around 5 degrees.
That night it plunged even further.

The officially recorded overnight low in West Chester was
minus 16 degrees. Longtime Westtown farmer, the late Marshall Jones (remember
him?) had recorded minus 18 at his farm, the coldest he had recorded since a
minus 20 on February 9, 1934.

In my journal I noted Saturday night at 11:35 p.m. was a
minus 11 degrees, so I went outside just to stand and experience the
feeling.  Hearing my father’s tales
of winters in North Dakota, I had always felt a little disadvantaged, having
only experienced the more temperate climate of Pennsylvania.

I awoke again at 6:45 a.m., with the temperature reading
minus 16, so I pulled on my jeans and jacket and stood outside to experience
that too.

It was absolutely still – total silence – not a sound. Not
even the usual chirping of the early morning sparrows as they gathered at my
feeder. Not even the din from distant Route 1 as the big rigs climbed the hill.
You could almost hear the air turn to ice crystals. It seemed surreal in the
early morning gray.

Brrr- Spring can’t come soon enough.

In that same old journal I also recorded the events of the
evening of April 22, 1984 – but I’ll save that for next week.  Seems Chadds Ford has a lot in common
with California’s San Andreas Valley.

And by the way – keep warm.

About Sally Denk Hoey

Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”

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