Learning about wine

Barbara · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:24 pm Post subject:

Normally I would say a grenache with the lamb but the curry adds a new dimension......and yoghurt on top of that....that's a hard one. A really GOOD (big) Chardonnay might work. I think I'd take a bottle of grenache and a bottle of chardonnay and hope one works. Sounds like a fun night though, whatever you decide to take. Post back after the dinner and let us know.
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Barbara

Sarape · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:20 pm Post subject:

Holy Cow. I am enjoying reading this wine-and-food discussion. But it is making me feel like the character Myshkin in Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot.

Even David's risotto recipe makes me feel so vulgar -- using the traditional sense of the word. And Dairy_Queen with her collection of 600 cookbooks and others who subscribe to cooking magazines -- wow, I don't own a cookbook and don't have a single recipe. I feel like a cowboy on the trail.
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' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

JustMe · Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 213 Location: Ontario, Canada

Sarape, does it matter? Are you enjoying yourself? I, for one, enjoy your "company"...and this is a great learning experience...for all of us.

Barbara: thanks for the input. I was thinking one white & one red simply for the reason you mentioned...I hope one works. I definitely prefer reds myself & haven't had white wine in ages....but it might just be what is called for here. The dinner isn't for another month...but I will post back once it's done.
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Life is too short to drink cheap wine.

David · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:09 pm Post subject:

But Sarape---your free-style approach to cooking is to be envied! I certainly haven't your imagination----and remember, it wasn't even my recipe!
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

simona · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 696 Location: israel

Curried lamb ( including yoghurt) . OK, I have no idea what wine can match this, but if it's an indian(?) recipe , maybe somebody with some knowledge of indian cuisine could tell what goes with it. Something on the sweet scale, maybe, or do I really miss the point?

Erin · Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 9:53 pm Post subject:

Barbara,
I just posted that you should start a thread on wine and here I find one! Questions will follow soon!
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

Sarape · Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 10:53 pm Post subject:

Erin · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 1:07 pm Post subject:

Barbara, What did you do while working in the wine industry? I have been curious about rose, but in all honesty, am a tad embarassed to buy pink wine. I read an article in Food and Wine about a pairing dinner with sparkling rose and everything from sausages to gravlax, and I was thinking about attempting the same dinner one of these days. My knowledge is pretty limited on this wine, do you have any recommendations or guildlines for selecting one? I don't even know what to look for, I am more of a bordeaux, pinot drinker.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

David · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 4:10 pm Post subject:

We're not generally rose drinkers either. But on that golf/wine trip to the Okanagan we purchased a case of a beautiful rose from Quail's Gate. The woman said it went very well with TURKEY and she was spot on! We often order "un pichet de rose" with lunch when travelling in France.
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

Barbara · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 10:42 pm Post subject:

Erin - I love rose...but unfortunately there is a lot of bad rose around. When buying wine, it is best to develop a relationship with a (good) wine store, attend tastings and get to know the staff.....they will understand your tastes and will look after you. I never buy wine in supermarkets as I have a greater choice of quality wine from my local wine store and the staff are extremely knowledgable...and they do weekly tastings of good wine. Supermarket tastings are usually the lower tier wines of a wine company.

True rose is made from red grapes where the grapes are pressed and the skins are removed from the juice after only a few hours. The wine is then processed in the manner of white wine. It is drunk chilled and young. The advantage of rose wine is the tannins are lighter than red wine but the wine has the crispness of white wine.

Rose is an ideal summer wine - but I've been known to drink it in winter also! It goes well with chicken or turkey (as David mentioned). I like it with a simple pasta (olive oil, parmesan,basil), it would also work with tomatoes. It goes well with cold slices of roasted lamb. I haven't tried it with ham but I'm sure it would be nice . Seafood - maybe try baked whole fish with spices. It goes especially well with sunshine and sitting in the sun with friends.

It can also be served with summer fruits. On a summer afternoon slice a few strawberries into a glass and top it with a chilled rose - leave it an hour - then drink the wine and eat the strawberries. This works well with peaches and red wine too.

One of my favourtite roses is from Mendoza (Argentina) made by the Lurton Brothers called Lurton Rosada. Their wines are available in the US so you might be able to find some.

Then there is sparkling rose and there are some great pink champagnes. Louis Roederer is one of my favourites.

Some wine snobs are disparaging of rose wines but to me rose is summer days, friends, food and conversation.

I worked for a wine distributor as sales support for the duty free shops where my job involved staff training and incentives, promotions and organising wine tastings . The company distributed NZ wines as well as Australian, Italian and French wine and liqueurs.

With Indian food I always drink beer.... I find it the better food/drink match. My husband gave me a beer making kit for Christmas and I'm about to make my first batch.

I'm still recovering from the after effects of my chemo treatment and limit myself to half a glass of wine every second day...but I savour every mouthful and really enjoy it.
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Barbara

Erin · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 11:41 pm Post subject:

Oooooh! I am developing many plans! I think a warm summer evening having dinner in my garden will be a lovely way to test a rose.

I have yet to find a proper wine shop since moving to Long Island. I tend to get frustrated as the prices where I live are terribly inflated. I find wine here that I bought $3 to $8 cheaper back in Seattle, it is all about principal. Back home we shopped frequently at a place called Esquin in the industrial district of Seattle. They catered mainly to people who buy in large quantities so the prices were really good, and they really work to educate their customers. Phil and I went to their tastings on Saturdays usually coming away with too many bottles. Out here I have yet to find a place like that. Their are several vinyards here but have yet to find a local wine I enjoy. Raphael Vinyards had a very nice reserve merlot , and the staff was great. At the end of June we are going to rent a car with some friends and tour the vinyards, hopefully I will find a few more gems. The wine business here is still very young and I know this may sound funny, but you can actually taste it.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

Barbara · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 12:09 am Post subject:

Lenn at this blog http://www.lenndevours.com/ promotes Long Island Wines. He might be able to steer you in the right direction. The Wine Blogging Wednesdays May event is being hosted by Becks and Posh and is on Rose wine so check their blog at http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/ after 10th May for results - you may get some suggestions there. I'm off out today to buy my rose to taste test.

A Rose dinner int the garden sounds delightful. I now have two seasons to plan something in my own garden come summer!
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Barbara

Judy · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 12:34 am Post subject:

My favourite wines are sparklings and Jacob's Creek have recently released a Sparkling Rose that you might be interested in, Barbara. It's a lovely drop!

Erin · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 3:36 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the links Barbara, I will check them out.

We have Jacobs Creek here but I have never tried it, thanks for the recommendation Judy.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

Dawna · Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 125 Location: Vancouver

Hello! New member here - I'm in Vancouver, BC.

It can be a bit hard to pair wines with curries - and it sort of depends on what kind of curry it is. I love Indian food, and often simply go with beer for curries, but if pressed on a wine, I might give a dry riesling or a pinot blanc a try. Pinot gris/grigio could also work, if you get one with decent acids.

It is nice to read all of the complimentary things about BC's growing wine industry! It certainly has come a long way since I started drinking wines almost 20 years ago. We now produce some very respectable reds along with the whites. I am a fan of big red wines.