Sichuan Challengers + Pairing Wine & Sichuan

April 14, 2009 · 4 comments

in atlanta, misc food, wine at home, wine in the city

We have landed our two Land of Plenty challengers from last time’s post! Sarah E and Ted S, both of Atlanta, are up to the Sichuan challenge and there is a cookbook heading their way. I’m expecting great things from them..no pressure!

In just a few weeks I’ve become much more comfortable with Sichuan ingredients and techniques, and I’m sure that will only get better. Digging into this cookbook, wandering around some funky supermarkets, and immersing yourself in this cuisine is the best way to learn on your own. What are you waiting for?

Also…

In quite timely fashion, the New York Times recently had an article discussing an attempt to pair wines with Sichuan/Chinese food, which is notoriously difficult (I guess). You may recall I drank a Spatlese Riesling with some Sichuan last week, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Riesling and Gewurztraminer are the oft-chosen pairings for spicy food, with the sweetness, acidity, floral nose and complex fruity flavor complementing the heat/spice well in many instances.

Though, remember that Riesling <> Sweet! The Germans, being the fun loving peeps they are (see video below), have created a friendly guide called Prädikatswein (it’s fun to say when yelling). There’s a lot more to it than I’m going to post, but here’s a summary of some terms you will often see on labels which indicate the level of ripeness at which the grape was picked, which plays into the sweetness of the wine. These terms go from sweet to dry.

Trockenbeerenauslese > Beerenauslese > Auslese > Spatlese > Kabinett > Kabinett Trocken

If you think that all Rieslings are sweet, and if you’ve only enjoyed a lower-end sweet Riesling, you may want to head on over to your local wine shop and pickup a $15-25 Spatlese and see what’s what.

The NY Times article also mentioned that though it wasn’t included in this tasting, it was thought that perhaps a sparkling wine would go well with this food. Right now I’m thinking about the sparkling Gruner that Holeman & Finch offers up. I think this attempt will have to be made real soon…stay tuned.

Tagged as: cookbook, gruner veltliner, land of plenty, sichuan, wine

  • http://www.dirtysouthwine.com Dirty

    Jimmy-

    Just one note- virtually all $15-$25 Spatlese Rieslings picked in a normal wine shop will be sweet– unless they are noted as Spatlese Trocken. I’m not sure if that is what you meant by your statement or if I’m reading it correctly.

    Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese are levels of ripeness (not necessarily of sweetness) and can all be fermented into Trocken (dry) wine. It can be assumed that all of these wines have residual sugar, unless Trocken is clearly marked.

    That being said, why Riesling and Gewurz wines work with Szechuan is precisely because of the residual sugar (balanced by their acidity). Unless a Szechuan dish is mildly spiced, I’d stick to off-dry or sweet wines. Big Reds- Cabs, Bordeaux, young Burgundies, etc. are often far too tannic (even for meat dishes). Tannin intensifies the heat in the SZ peppercorns, and that is all that you will taste.

    Some new world reds- Zins, freaky ripe Pinot, and fruit smoothie style Syrah / Grenache might do ok if they are crazy extracted and have lower tannin, but they will then overpower the food.

    Sparkling works fairly well, as the bubbles work as a palate cleanser, and can interact almost pop-rocks style with the Szechaun peppercorns- but sometimes the lean acidity (with no residual sugar) creates some off flavors. I’d go for demi-sec Champagne or sparkling off-dry Vouvray.

    Paring wine with Szechuan is fun, and relatively easy if you aren’t afraid to drink wines with residual sugar. For some reason US wine drinkers associate “sweet” with bad (which is far from the case), even though many CA wines have tons of residual sugar (hidden behind gobs of fruit, and death by vanilla New Oak shizz)

    (not sure if you meant that they wouldn’t be)

  • https://eatitatlanta.com jimmy

    Dirty to the rescue!

    I misspoke on the Spatlese. I meant to refer to a Kabinett, but I clearly show my lack of experience in this post.

  • http://www.foodiebuddha.com FoodieBuddha
  • lori

    I love what you’re doing with “Land of Plenty”. A most awesome cookbook! I have also enjoyed the pairing of Rieslings and Gewurztraminers with Szechuan. I’m off to Tasty China this afternoon, but alas, no wine. Poor planning on my part!

    PS: glad you were able to find preserved veggies at Ranch 99. I made the Dan Dan Noodles using preserved Sour Mustard Greens once, and it was delicious. It’s in a plastic pouch in the refrigerated section.

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