Much of the discussion about pairing wine and food centers on restaurant meals. But why not bring that luxury home? A thoughtfully selected wine can make even simple weekday meals seem more extravagant.
I recently asked Jonathan Honefenger of Richard’s Liquors & Fine Wines to recommend pairings for five typical home-cooked meals. Honefenger, who used to be the sommelier at Tony’s, is a Certified Specialist in Wine, a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, holds Levels One and Two with the International Sommelier Guild and is a Certified Spanish Wine Educator. Yep, he knows a few things about fancy wines.
He’s now on the retail side of the business and says he actually spends more time with individual customers now than ever before. “It’s a different style of how you do buying and interact with customers. You spend a lot more one-on-one time. It’s hard to build a clientele list, but once the customer trusts you there’s a great deal of loyalty.”
Honefenger is a big fan of Burgundy wines, and he’s always happy to pull out a few fantastic bargains from this region. “When I’m thinking about everyday meals, I’m looking at something that is $20 or less.” My sentiments exactly. Here are his pairings for five of my weekday suppers.
Baked Chicken with Carrots & Truffled Mashed Potatoes “I’d look for something in the OldWorld because of the truffle accent and something light- to medium-bodied because of the chicken. I recommend a Passe-Tout-Grains, which is a Gamay/Pinot blend from Burgundy. Or maybe even a Cru Beaujolais. Many people don’t think of that, but it is Gamay. Some of them, like Morgon or Fleurie, have a great earthiness. They are moderate and easy to drink with a slight chill.”
Fried Chicken and Coleslaw “Anytime I hear fried chicken I want to do Champagne or some kind of sparking wine. One of my favorites is Gruet Blanc de Noir. It’s a really inexpensive alternative from New Mexico. For an inexpensive option from France, Bertrand Ambroise has a sparkling Burgundy. The Gruet is around $15, and the Bertrand Ambroise is under $20.”
Steak, Broccoli & Mushrooms “Because of the greenness of the broccoli and the richness of the steak I’m going with a Bordeaux this time. This doesn’t sound like a Monday meal. It’s probably later in the week so I’m going higher in the budget, too. I’d choose a $30 wine, such as Château Daugay. It’s from Saint-Emilion and owned by the same people (the Bouard de Laforest family) as Angelus, which just got elevated to Grande Premier Class A. The Daugay is cool because it’s still under the radar. It’s 50/50 Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It has the great structure, ripeness and earthiness that Angelus is known for but you’re not paying a premium for it. The 2008 has some nice acidity. The 2009 is a blockbuster, but I would actually lean towards the 2008 for this particular pairing.”
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce & Garlic Bread “I’m going Italian for this match. There’s a co-op producer from the Abruzzo, Marramiero, who makes Montepulciano. Often Abruzzos can be high-acid, thin or over-the-top alcohol. This one actually has a nice richness and good acidity, and it’s different from the usual Chianti.”
Green Curry with Pork (It sounds like I was throwing Jonathan a curve ball, but “cheater” Thai curry is a regular weeknight meal at my house. I don’t usually have time to grind my own curry, so we use Mae Ploy paste. You can adjust the ratio of paste to coconut milk to control the heat level, but we like ours pretty spicy. Throw in some cubed boneless pork loin, fresh green beans, bamboo shoots and potatoes, steam some rice, and you’ve got an easy weeknight meal.)
Honefenger’s advice: “I have to go with a richer-style Riesling for this, and there should be no surprise there. Actually, I could go with a German, dry-style Donnhoff. The 2011 was a richer vintage. You could also look at a Domaine Ehrart Riesling from Alsace. The 2009 was a delightful vintage from this region. The Donnhoff has perfect minerality, and the Domaine Ehrart is more flowery.”
For some of us, even these fantastic values aren’t going to let us indulge every night of the week, so I asked Honefenger to narrow his choices even more. “If you could only have two, which would you pick?” I asked. His choices were the most approachable and flexible: the Donhoff Riesling for a white and the Passe-Tout-Grains for a red.
I bought three of Honefenger’s recommendations while I was at the store and was very happy with all three. Anyone can do the same thing I did. Go to Richard’s (or any better wine store) with your meal plan for the week in-hand and get some professional pairing advice. Your menu will look better after that.