Sommelier Notes for March
by Bill Summerville
When Jamie said she was trying to decide between a “Day Trip” to Paris or Morocco for March’s menu I knew she’d go with the more challenging of the two in terms of wine. Thanks, Jamie ;)
March’s Menu
These are simply prepared dishes, but with complex, layered arrangements of ingredients. This creates an overarching melding of flavors and textures, accented with little spikes of warm spice notes and piquant flavors popping up here and there. One bite yields smokey cumin, another tangy preserved lemon.
There is far too much going on in these dishes to “pair” wine so we’re going with broad strokes. Neither the food nor the wine should take away from each other. The wines should sidle up to the dishes and be a passenger or take a back seat. Stay away from tannic, high alcohol reds and whites with lower acidity.
Rosé, whites and very light to medium-bodied reds are your best bets- Austrian gruner veltliners and rieslings, dry to off-dry German riesling, unoaked-chardonnay and of course, bubbles, but probably not expensive bubbles. For lighter reds- gamay, sangiovese, pinot noir and one of my favorites, pais. Chilling lighter reds is a good bet for this menu.
Sidebar
Why do we love chilled reds? The cooler temperature accentuates the acidity and aromatics, heightening our pleasure. The wines should be simple, fun and easy and these suggestions are just a start as there are so many that will do.
Dessert Basbousa Bel Ashta
While we need to take broad strokes with March’s savory dishes we can get quite specific with the Basbousa Bel Ashta.
We’ll be pairing to the texture and the aromatics, but first you need to decide whether you want to lighten up the basbousa or make it more decadent.
To lighten it go with bubbles, but nothing dry! With anything sweet the wine has to be as sweet or sweeter than the dessert. Err on the side of sweeter. My thoughts immediately go to moscato d’Asti. Its slight effervescence will contrast the distinct textures of the semolina cake and the thick, creamy ashta. The moscato’s nose, perfumed with flowers and white grapes will mingle with the orange zest and rose beautifully. Look for Elio Perrone’s “Sourgal.” His moscatos have balance and a clean finish that will keep you wanting more. And they are relatively inexpensive so drink up!
Now on to the decadent pairing. What you’re looking for is something with a golden hue- a sauternes, coteaux du layon or tokaji all work.
These wines can be less expensive or decadently expensive, but they will never be inexpensive as the winemaking process renders very little wine and there is always risk involved as the grapes are left on the vine to be infected by botrytis or noble rot, which shrivels the grapes increasing the sugar to juice ratio. Serve them cool, not cold and honestly these can be dessert all by themselves.
-Bill
