Matching Wines with the Hot-Sour-Salty-Sweet Foods of Asia (2/4)

Although strong oak qualities are also associated with powerful wines, oak in itself is not the problem because there are many barrel fermented or oak aged wines that are perfectly smooth, moderately scaled, crisply balanced, and therefore Asian food compatible. The operative terms when it comes to food flexibility in a wine are always harmony and balance; which naturally are more likely to be found in moderately (as opposed to aggressively) oaked wines. With or without oak, the best wines for Asian foods are those with levels of alcohol and tannin that are in scale with a degree of fruitiness, natural acidity, and sometimes (not always) a judicious amount of residual sugar. It is a question of a wine’s harmony and balance within the context of hot, sour, salty and sweet food sensations. From Albarino to Zweigelt, and from Pinotage to Pinot Noir, there is an abundance of wines around the world that achieve varying degrees of qualities that end up being compatible with Asian food styles. So without going in to an encyclopedic depth, here are some comments on some of the more curious, and surprising, matches we have found to work: Asian Foods with German Riesling (Half-Dry to Kabinett Level Sweetness) Quintessential German style Rieslings -- penetratingly scented, juicy rich, light and fine as silk, with a whispering sweetness balanced by perceptible acidity – are usually the first wines cited for Asian foods. Think of how you might make a healthy stir fry -- balancing thin strips of meat with at least equal amounts of crisp vegetables, a trace of an oil balanced with soy, lemon or rice vinegar, salt and cracked pepper, a touch of a chili sauce or multi-spice seasonings, and served with fragrant jasmine rice. You can't go wrong when you figure in a fragrant, deftly balanced German Riesling. It may be understandable why someone would say that Asian cooking is not good for wine. Badly balanced cooking and badly balanced wine, for that matter – is not good for anyone. But when principles of harmony and balance are executed in a dish, in a wine, and in your choice of selection, then you’ve got yourself quite a dramatic match! Asian Foods with Viognier White wines made from the Viognier grape are actually an unorthodox choice for Asian style foods for two reasons -- they tend to be low in acid and full in alcohol, somewhat like Chardonnay. But unlike Chardonnay, Viogniers tend to be extremely fragrant --billowing with exotic fruit and honeysuckle-like perfumes, and suggestions of violet and white pepper. The finer styles of California grown Viognier are amplified by plush, mouthwatering, almost sweet (even if the wine is technically dry), dense and silken textured flavors. Chinese cooking in particular -- such as duck in hoisin plum sauces, chicken in gingery or citrusy syrups, and savory sauced napa cabbage, choy sum, mustard greens, and other toothsome vegetables -- can be tilted towards sweetness balanced by a mild bitterness and saltiness. In Southeast Asia, fish is often coated with curries and coconut milk, strong pastes made from coriander root and peppercorns, or stuffed with scallions, fatty pork, garlic cloves and even spicy hot Serrano chilies. In these food contexts, the aggressively full, hefty, peppery qualities of Viognier are often superior to the more feeble alcohol and higher acid qualities of Riesling. Viognier doesn't work, however, in cases where dishes are overly sweet, or numbingly hot -- in other words, badly balanced Asian cooking. But when full flavored Asian dishes are prepared correctly, a good, balanced Viognier can contribute an exotic note of its own to the overall experience. Asian Foods with Zinfandel