Wine Enthusiast Magazine
SubscribeThe Parable of the Chinese Food Wine Pairing Dinner
by Tim Moriarty
The general consensus in the wine world is that wines with a bit of sweetness and a hint of spice pair best with Chinese food. Semi-dry Riesling, Gewürztraminer and sparkling wines are mentioned most often, and I agree. If I’m not drinking beer, a sleek, off-dry Riesling is my go-to quaff for that fare. The sweetness complements the spice in the dishes but also, if you think about it, the sweetness: many of the sauces used in American-style Chinese food are slightly sweet. So there you go.
But when I mentioned that my wife and I annually join as many as ten other couples for a Chinese New Years banquet on Mott Street in New York’s Chinatown, a colleague suggested I think about Amarone; its raisiny accent and plum flavors might be an excellent match for Peking duck served with a plum sauce. I had my doubts; Amarones can be tannic and that is definitely not what you want with spicy food. But I was curious if it would work.
I leave it to you to explore this pairing, because it didn’t happen for me.
I’ve been to wine dinners with friends where everyone brought bottles and everyone got a small taste to match with each course. Discussing each wine’s attributes and its suitability to the food is all part of the fun. Polite, polished fun.
This was not one of those occasions. This was chaos.
On a Saturday night in Chinatown; at the tail end of the New Years celebrations there; with 14 people at our table all talking at once; with the dishes coming out of the kitchen rapid-fire; people pouring wine and beer while serving food family-style (stuffed scallops, fried shrimp, vegetable dumplings, orange beef, spicy noodles, fish soup, Peking duck, bok choy, serve, pass, eat, drink, next!) and yakking with people at neighboring tables—this is not an occasion for the wine geek to fuss over the wines, monitoring pours to be sure everyone gets some and that it’s served during the appropriate course. I think we can all agree: stab that man with a chopstick.
Wine is all about fun and ease, and this was pure, chaotic, bacchanalian fun. I never did have Amarone with my duck, but I did have a sip of a slightly stewed Argentinean Malbec and it didn’t work in the slightest—for me. Down the table, people gave it the thumbs-up. I winced at a sip of a dry Pinot Grigio while the woman across from me raved. There you go. Fun and ease.
For me, the stellar wines of that meal were a Weingut Johannishof 2008 Johannisberg “V” Riesling Kabinett from the Rheingau, and the Loosen Brothers 2008 Dr. L Riesling from the Mosel.
My friend found the Loosen for $9.50. “I win” is the motto of the Year of the Tiger.
Filed under: Food Pairing
8 Comments
8 Responses to “The Parable of the Chinese Food Wine Pairing Dinner”
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February 23rd, 2010 at 6:48:03 PM
I agree with you. Rieslings and Gewurtz are pretty much it for spicy Asian food. I own a Korean restaurant/sushi bar and find that Korean food is even a worse pairing of wine than chinese food. Korean, which is very spicy, garlicky and heavily sauced pretty much turns all red wine into vinegar and even rieslings often can’t stand up to it. However, Gewurtz does work well. It’s sweetness and bright fruits soothes the spiciness and is refreshing.
Have you had any luck with pairing sushi? I enjoy sparkling wine with it, but would like a good red to go along with it. I’ve tried some Burgundies and other California and Oregon Pinots with, but they just don’t hit the spot.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:38:26 PM
Sounds like it was a great evening and a reminder of putting the wine geek stuff aside and experiencing all flavors of the moment. “Fun & ease” = I’m taking this on as my motto for 2010.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:54:57 AM
Jay, Pinot Noir is, indeed, the red most often mentioned as a pairing with sushi, so if it doesn’t work for you, I guess move on. I’ll wager that each individual’s habits in terms of laying on the wasabi and/or ginger affects the response. Believe it nor not, Zinfandel sometimes is offered as a pairing, which is nuclear-level counter-intuitive, as far as I’m concerned, but some people, including sommeliers, rave about it. For myself, Asian beer or Sauvignon Blanc.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:55:54 PM
Hello! I’ve been living in Asia since 1995 – in Macau to be exact – and I have a great pairing type of wine to go along with Asian food: Portugese Green White Wine, specialy the Alvarinho type, or just the ” standard” green wine. No wonder Portuguese wine has a 60%+ market share here…and we are just 2,000 Portuguese. The pairing brings all the flavours not only of the food but also the wine itself. It’s a fresh, naturaly sparkling (not as sparkling as Champagne), a bit sweet, great quality and also very affordable.
March 4th, 2010 at 4:32:38 PM
I enjoy a nice Chablis or unoaked Chardonnay with sushi. The crisp, refreshing taste compliments the seafood and spice. With un-oaked Chards becoming more and more popular there are some great ones to choose from. I am really enjoying what is coming out of Santa Barbara County. A personal favorite is from a small producer in Santa Maria, Riverbench Winery. Their 2008 Bedrock Chardonnay ($24) is full of lush tropical fruit with a bit of minerality and it is great with my sushi choices.
March 27th, 2010 at 7:14:35 AM
Hello ,as we know people like seafood , but some just get allergy . I like shrimp , but just allergy with it . And about wine , I just allergy too . However , I found it excellent to make shrimp with wine , no any allergy , and taste wonderful . Does any body know why the wine has this magic power ?
And as I know about Chinese food , such as ShangHai food , they like to put a little bit wine , I even tasted a very nice food in Chinese resturant , they make the chicken with wine .
April 8th, 2010 at 12:01:36 AM
I find it amusing that people seem to think wine goes with ‘all’ or ‘any’ food types… it doesn’t. Especially red wine.
Part of the beauty and nature of Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc food is basically incompatible with the addition of European ‘wine’…. i mean, what do people expect? How much grape ‘wine’ was there in Japan? China? Come on…
IF you claim to ‘enjoy’ Chinese food, why cover up all the subtle flavors with grape based wine? Its going to overpower 95% of everything your tasting in the food.
If you really ‘like’ Chinese food, try a Chinese rice based wine… or is that to ‘authentic’ or ‘challenging’. Japanese food goes great with sake’.
Part of the reason why wine goes so good with European food is… you guessed it… because its ‘cultivated’ together with the same traditional foods. No wonder why French wine goes with french food.
I also ‘really’ enjoy it when people come into the wine shop and ask for a good red wine to accompany Indian curry… wheres your head at?? TRY BEER!
April 8th, 2010 at 12:04:35 AM
furthermore…
red wine DOESN’T go with fish and shellfish. It creates an acid in your mouth that’s similar to iodine that tastes terrible.