Wine Pairing with Indian Food

Our friends at WineFetch.com have a blog with alot of good recommendations and we found this one worth reprinting for visitors to Vivi’s.  Indian food isn’t very straight forward when it comes to pairing wines so this is a helpful suggestion.

Enjoy the Wine Life!

My good friends celebrated a birthday last night with an Indian feast. They asked if I had any suggestions for wine pairing, so I took to the net to do some research. I was surprised at the considerable amount of discussion on the topic of pairing Indian food and wine, and I thought I would share the information. While there are various opinions, most agree on that “complex wines pair well with simple foods, and simple wines pair well with complex foods.”

• Traditional Pairing: Gewürztraminer. The lychee fruit flavors with a hint of spice are good compliments because they have sweet flavors that strong enough to stand up to the complex spicy seasoning of Indian
• New School: Find a white with crisp clean flavors. A young and fresh white with a balance of sweet and acid will compliment Indian. For example, a Chenin Blanc can pair well with chicken tikka masala, somosas, or naan. This wine is strong enough to hold up to Indian without stealing the show.
• Room for Red?: Reds will go better with lightly seasoned Indian including tandori. Reds that are juicy rather than spicy, with round flavors are better. For example, a chilled Cotes du Rhone or an Old Vine Grenache can pair with chicken curry. Wines made on the Mediterranean coast are often made to stand up to spicy foods, and they can often pair well with Indian.
• Avoid: Any wine with alcohol content above 13% will probably intensify the burn of the Indian.

Tips for Wine Buying

The Chicago Tribune had an article on wine buying that I thought was worthy of slapping into our WineHacker category.  We’re not big on the mystique of wine (I know, all wine bloggers say that but if you knew Kelly and I, you’d know we mean it!)  Anyway, we have an appreciation for wine and its a hobby but the more guides to trying wine that we can find the better. 

Additionally, if you don’t live in a “wine area” then these tips, while seeming obvious to some, are not entirely obvious to everyone.  There not perfect but then again nothing relating to wine is perfect.  Why do I say that?  Because every single person’s body chemistry and make up is different.  As different as fingerprints and DNA.  That means that no two people will interpret sensations (like drinking wine) in the same way.  Therefore, by definition, its impossible for there to be a “perfect” wine.  What is perfect for me, by definition, will not be prefect for anyone else.

Off my soap box on that, here’s the Tribune list…

Pimp My Wine Ride…part Duex!

Its back.  Last year I posted about the burgundy Rolls Royce Phantom at auction at the Naples Wine Festival in Florida.  Well, there will be yet another Mac-Daddy of the Playa’s ball this year as again there is a customized Rolls at the festival complete with DVD system, 2 screens, and a wine cellar built in under the rear seat.  The difference this year?  It will be raffled off as opposed to sold at auction.  The burgundy Phantom took down $800K last year.  This year they have 300 tickets and it’ll only cost you $5000 to have a shot at it.  (If they sell all $300 tickets they’ll raise $1.5M – for the mathematically impaired).

I’ll have to start digging the change out of my couch to see if I can get in…

 

Trying out some new designs…

How can you tell when Joel’s hands are idle during the day?  Look for improvements to Vivi’s Wine Journal!

So the bulk of the feedback I’ve gotten about Vivi’s is positive – content as well as look and feel.  But that one negative I’ve gotten is that its not “lively” enough.  Design-wise, I’m pretty big on negative space (makes me sound artsy

).  So over the next few weeks I’m going to try a few things to spruce it up a bit.

I could pay a professional designer but then how good of a hobby would this be?

Digging out from the pile of diapers…we’ve got Zin!

Well, first I’d like to thank all the well wishers for sending their friendly notes during my self-imposed family leave.  Our little Kendra Michelle is doing very well and I’m sure as soon as he digestive system develops she’ll have a hankerin’ for some great wine (she is a Vincent after all

).

I’d thought I’d start my first post back from a long break with yet another hit from Ballentine Vineyards – 2003 Zinfandel Port.  The first 100% Zinfandel port that I’ve ever tried and I was hooked immediately.  Its a deep, rich port with a blackberry syrup taste that is absolutely delicious.  It fills the palette with an explosion of flavor and yet manages not to overwhelm with sweetness.  An absolute must for after dinner drink relaxing by the fire.

Speaking of Zin, you can find Ballentine Vineyards and others at 15th annual ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Festival January 25–28th.  Read more of this post for detailed information or visit their website at http://www.zinfandel.org/festival/