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Pairing white with BBQ When the weather is hot and there’s barbecue on the grill, no one can deny that an ice cold beer is exactly what you want. However, anyone that has properly paired a beer with rich, smoky flavorful barbeque can attest to the fact that that is just too much weight. You are not pairing a Bud Light or Corona with BBQ. Are these refreshing on the beach for day-drinking? Absolutely. (Within legal parameters, of course.) Although, when it comes to pairing a beverage with food, you have to consider many factors that essentially match the two. Ideally, you are pairing a heavier beer that can match the weight, volume and texture of your meal. And usually your stomach has room for one of these, maybe two, before you feel like taking a nap and calling it a day. And who wants to miss the rest of the party? So, as the forever advocate of wine as the ideal pairing for food, I will guide you to the perfect wine pairings with BBQ. Although I’m specifically tailoring these pairings to BBQ, the same principles apply to all food and wine pairings.

Weight. Volume. Texture. These measurements or characteristics are usually found in physics and textiles, but, honestly, wine is so much more fun. Weight: how heavy is the dish? It is light and refreshing or heavy and filling? Whatever it is, you will want to match an equally weighty wine with it. Logic may suggest that you balance a heavy dish with a light wine to balance it out. Generally speaking, you can’t do this. One will overpower the other. Although there are always exceptions to any rule, this is where volume comes in. Volume: how loud is the dish? How bold are the flavors and spices? Barbeque is bold, and as beautiful as a Pinot Noir from Burgundy can be, it is simply not loud enough for the grill, not if you are grilling properly. A wine should not overpower a wine, and food should not overpower a wine. The last aspect, which may not be as vital as weight and volume in a dish, is the texture. Texture: how does it feel? Flavor and body only mean so much if the texture of the food matches the texture of the wine. As far as barbequed foods go, you want something rich and silky to wash it all down with and you want it to make you want another glass. Texture in wine is crucial because you want it to match the richness of the foods you’re eating, while being refreshing enough to keep drinking.

Although one can go on and on about the fundamentals of pairing food with wine, these elements cover the basics. As part of my “market research,” I tried delicious local BBQ with some of my favorite wines. I was able to taste through some key characteristics that were crucial to a solid barbeque pairing. I’m sorry Sauvignon Blanc, I love you, but this just isn’t going to work out this time. The best characteristics in wine that enhanced my dining experience were: fruit-fowardness, not too much acidity, and neutral tannins in red wine. It’s actually very interesting because traditionally subtle fruit and high acid are what make wines food-friendly. But we are talking about American food, and ‘Murica doesn’t like rules.

Now that there is an understanding of how and why, I will suggest the top 3 whites and top 3 reds for your BBQ. Interestingly enough, my two runners up for the whites are European varietals in a new world expression. Albariño and Pinot Gris from Oregon are a perfect pairing, especially with the Mustard BBQ sauce. They both have the balanced acidity for the mustard component often found in barbecue foods, but the richness in fruit to stand up to the weight and volume as well. The best white wine for BBQ is Chenin Blanc, specifically from South Africa. Chenin Blanc has the body to stand up to richer dishes like Mac n’ Cheese, potato salad and all meats. It even pairs with baked beans surprisingly. Chenins have the full body of Chardonnay, but generally a higher acidity and not the same oak treatment, so they are naturally more food-friendly. The best part about the BBQ food-friendliness is how great Chenin Blanc is with spicy food. They don’t dull heat, but they do soften and round it out. An honorable mention is rosé. It doesn’t necessarily enhance BBQ, but it doesn’t hurt it either. Rosé: the eternal people-pleaser. (It is definitely a middle child.) As far as reds go, there are few surprises there. You want bold fruit, toned down tannins, and rich body. Ultimately, the three best were Australian Shiraz, Cotes-du-Rhone and Petite Sirah. If you want to enhance spice, go for the Cotes-du-Rhone. If you want to soften the spice and round out the texture, drink a California Petite Sirah.

What makes these pairings so interesting is that these are not traditionally food-friendly wines, as mentioned before. Barbeque is a very American style of cuisine which allows American wines to shine. There is no better time to celebrate this exquisite pairing than now. Put that beer down, and enjoy your BBQ with some wine today.

Often in the wine world, there are trends that come and go. There are the classics that will always be faithfully revered such as Burgundy and Bordeaux. However, relative newcomers to the scene are often subject to the current whims and tastes of the consumer. Sometimes wine geeks roll their eyes, waiting for some of these trends to go away. (How much Moscato do we actually need?!) Other times we rejoice that a classic is becoming popular again, because certain wines are too good not to be shared with the world. This is exactly what we are seeing happen with Sherry. Sherry is a fortified wine from Jerez in southern Spain that can be made into a dry or sweet style. Fortified wines came about during the Age of Exploration, by adding neutral spirit to wine for preservation purposes during long voyages. When Sherry made its way over to England, it quickly became the drink of choice for the Brits. (They are actually still the #1 export market for Sherry!) However, the popular style was sweet cream sherry, and although this style helped to keep the Sherry industry afloat, it did not help its reputation amongst serious wine drinkers. The Sherry industry has certainly declined over time and sadly many historical bodegas, or Sherry houses, have gone out of business. Luckily, Spaniards and Sherry enthusiasts have continued to consume and provide demand for the real jewel of Andalucía, dry Sherry. The intricate production process alone is impressive. Then, the versatility it has in food-friendliness makes it a great addition to any food and wine experience. It is admittedly an acquired taste for many people, but so was wine, beer and coffee at one point and where would we be without those if we gave up on the first sip?

So the Sherry process. It is quite intense, making it all the more interesting. Most Sherry is made from the relatively neutral grape, Palomino. The best Palomino for Sherry production comes from the famous porous, chalky soil of Jerez, called albariza. Albariza makes grape-growing possible in this hot, dry climate, retaining water in the rainy off-season, and reflecting heat off the grapes in the growing season, due to its white color. While most wine producers claim that wine is made in the vineyard due to the expression of terroir, the exact opposite can be said of Sherry, because the most important part of the process happens in the bodega. Once grapes are harvested and sent to the bodega to be pressed into juice, the fermentation process may begin. During fermentation, sugar is converted to alcohol in large stainless steel tanks. Immediately following fermentation, flor begins to develop. Flor is a yeast that spontaneously develops only in the region of Jerez, the proximity to the sea having a huge influence on the development of flor. At this point, the wine undergoes its first classification dependent on style and quality. The finest, most delicate wines will continue to age under flor, or biological aging, as a fino, or manzanilla if the wine is from a Bodega in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Fuller, richer styles will be aged as an oloroso. This classicfication will determine the strength of the fortification level. Fino and manzanilla will be fortified to 14.6-15.4% alcohol, the level at which flor thrives. Oloroso will be fortified to 16-17% abv to kill off any exisiting flor, undergoing oxidative aging. At this point, the wines, or sobretablas, are ready to enter the solera system.

This is where it can get a little confusing. The solera system is defined as a “system fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years.” A solera is the set of used American oak barrels used in the fractional blending process of making Sherry. A solera is comprised of a series of barrels called scales or criaderas. The oldest group of barrels, the first scale, is also called the solera. When some of the wine, usually ⅓, is removed from the solera to be bottled, it is replaced by wine from the other 1^st criadera. This happens until each barrel has wine replaced from the next criadera, until the youngest criadera is replenished with sobretabla wine, the young wine after fermentation. Soleras can have anywhere from 3-15 criaderas. The purpose of fractional blending is to create consistency and complexity in a certain solera’s style. This also creates an average age of the solera, so depending on how old the solera is, it could contain wine that has been aging for over 50 years! Think of the complexity and nuances of this wine.

During this process, the wines may be categorized again. Delicate wines still aging under flor will remain finos or manzanillas. However, at this point, two intermediate styles may develop. An amontillado is a fino or manzanilla that has spent a number of years under flor before undergoing a period of oxidative aging. The flor may have died off naturally or the winemaker, or capataz, may have intentionally killed off the flor because the wine was become too rich in style to remain a fino. The second intermediate style is a palo cortado, defined as a wine combining the delicacy and aromatic refinement of an amontillado with the structure of an oloroso. Then olorosos will always remain olorosos.

There is so much more information to give, and so many more layers of intricacy to this process. However, you probably want to know the important stuff, like what do these taste like? What can I eat with these wines? Where can I get them? And can you go over that one more time? Finos are the most delicate, having notes of seaspray, almonds and Mediterranean herbs. The flor consumes sugar and glycerol during the biological aging process, resulting in a bone dry wine that has the perception of a light body, despite the high alcohol level. Fino and Manzanilla are best served chilled like a white wine, with shellfish, olives, almonds and Iberico ham. It even goes well with notoriously hard-to-pair asparagus and artichokes. Amontillado and palo cortado are dry, deep in color, and may have notes of caramel, roasted nuts, toffee and mocha. These should be served with a slight chill and go well with oysters, poultry, hard cheeses and mushroom dishes. Oloroso often has notes of walnuts, leather, tobacco, bitter chocolate and caramel, with a rich texture. It should also be served with a slight chill, like a properly served red wine, pairing perfectly with game and grilled meats. These wines are often umami-driven, and can go surprisingly well with Asian cuisine. As far as where to get these wines, your best bet is to go to a Spanish restaurant to try their selection of Sherry. A good tapas restaurant should have a varied selection. If you decide you are a fan, go to a high end wine shop. If local restaurants or wine shops don’t have Sherry, ask for them to get some! Wines gain a presence by demand of the consumer. Not only will you help to restore the Sherry industry, but you will have the perfect dinner party wine every time you host, as you kindly inform your guests that Sherry is so hot right now.

Tag: wine

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