Pheasant
Published: Mar 20, 2011
Sabrina Asks
What wine would go well with a Simple Pheasant meal. Casual Occasion?
Sabrina,
Pheasant is always a great meal, its got a lightness of poultry with a little extra gaminess, Now the exact pairing might change with your preparation, but I should note that lots of things work with pheasant and you shouldn’t over think it; my rule of thumb, especially as you note it will be a casual evening, would be to drink what you like to drink, on the richer and more red side of things. As far as specifics go I would look to Bordeaux and hopefully something with a little age on it, nothing much younger than 2003. If Burgundy is another no brainer, though with pheasant I like to go a little funkier on the wine so something from the south of Burgundy; ie. Givry or Santenay: that little cragginess will go well with the bird. But again lots of other options, southern Rhone (grenache-heavy blends), Spanish rioja, heavy chardonnay, etc etc will work with the bird. If you are looking for a more esoteric pairing options, I would try a Chinon (Loire valley Cab franc) Lemberger (also comes as Blaufrankish) or try a French cider (apple preferably, but pear could also be fun).
Some examples from our store:
Couly-Dutheil Chinon 07 23.99
Chateau Jura-Plaisance Montagne Saint-Emilion 03 18.99
Eric Bordelet Sidre Doux NV 17.99
Hope that was helpful
Cheers
Sandeep Ghaey
Vinic Wine Co.
Pairings for Beef Cubes Chili
Published: Mar 20, 2011
Brian asks
I am invited to dinner. A new recipe for Chili is the main course made with beef cubes not ground round.
What wine should I take as a guest?
Hey Brian,
Chili is a great opportunity to play around with a lot of different wine pairing options but can be challenging too. The difficulty with pairing Chili comes from the spice that the Chili may have, and each case will be different, and you’ll have to base your actual selection on what you know of the chef or if you have had any of their chilies (sp?) before. The reason that it is challenging is that while the most of chili [in all its variants] have a meaty base with seasoning and chile sauce with garlic and onions, which lends itself to big reds in that its similar to a meat stew, but the spice means you will want to steer clear of big tannins because they fight with the spice and even make them hotter. What to do?! Well first I would be remiss if we didn’t say that Beer is a great pairing for Chili; Think lighter, wheats, lagers etc… You’ll have great success. On the wine front I would look for a couple things. The first, is look into white wines, I think something with some heft in body but clean enough to leave the palate clean could be a great option, White Riojas or a Savennieres would be optimal. People are shy of Roses but I think it would be a killer pairing, Im not talking white zin, but a serious dry french Rose. And in Reds look for something Fruity but not insipid, Cotes du Rhone, Zinfandels, Syrah will all do the trick. Also I will mention if you have access to a cellar or to older vintages of bordeaux or rhone wines those could be great as they still have depth of flavor but the time has taken off some of the edge of the tannins, and if not don’t worry about it, its Chili and that calls for conviviality and sharing and not worrying.
On some specifics:
White: 2004 Maques di Murrieta Rioja Bianco (Reserva?) Capellania $34.99
Rose: 2009 Chateau de Lancyre Rose Pic Saint- Loup $18.99
Red: 2007 Domaine des Banquettes- Rasteau $19.99
Hope that was helpful
Cheers
Sandeep Ghaey
Vinic Wine Co.