Bacon explosion: impossible food wine pairing?

baconexplosionThe number one most emailed article right now over at the Times is entitled, “Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog.” It describes the improbable but wildly popular dish known as the “bacon explosion,” which consists of two pounds of bacon swaddling a “torpedo” of two pounds of Italian sausage, which wraps around a bacon core. Meat-tastic!

So what say: is this an impossible food to digest pair with wine?

44 Responses to “Bacon explosion: impossible food wine pairing?”


  1. not for me since I dont eat Pork hah! Drain-O would work probably hah


  2. Don’t ever like to admit defeat where a wine pairing is concerned but this is clearly one for a beer. Something like Brooklyn Lager should do the trick or maybe a Goose Island IPA. Not a big red at any rate. You don’t want to add to the calorific overload with a whole load of alcohol and tannin!


  3. Agree with Fiona Beckett. Beer is obvious choice here. You could try a riesling, though. Or a light sangiovese?


  4. In my opinion the best match can be a good Barbera d’Asti (or Barbera d’Alba) but old style (not aged in barrique) with a strong, lively acidity perfect to balance the richness and the fat of this succulent plate


  5. Aglianico


  6. The problem isn’t the richness of the fat or oil — any reasonably tannic/high alcohol wine should cut through the grease. The problem is the ungodly amount of salt (which would make the tannins taste bitter and awful. I’d go with a big jammy Zin, just because it’s just the sort of big, crass, American wine that would pair perfectly (symbolically at least) with this caloric abomination.


  7. You need something to take the edge off of all the salt and grease. A tart Gewürztraminer should do well to cleanse the palette (though not the arteries) between bites.


  8. The only thing you could successfully pair with this would be a nice tall glass of velveeta cheese.


  9. I rise to applaud the response by The Blow Leprechaun immediately above. Bravo!


  10. How about Ridge Geiserville Zin?


  11. I was thinking the same thing as I was reading this article the other day. I thought that a Belgian Lambic, particularly a Gueze, would probably work with this as well as some of their sour beers.


  12. With all that salty grease I’d want a refreshing, acidic white wine with some body to stand up to the heaviness. Might as well tie the two latest blog entries together and say I’d go with the Montinore Pinot Gris (from Willamette Valley, OR) sold at Frankly Wines. It’s got nice lemon and apple notes.


  13. With something that heavy, fatty, and salty the wine should have good acids, fair amount of body, and some sweetness. Acid need to cut the fat, body so you can still taste something after your palate has been assaulted, and sweetness to provide some refreshing contrast. My guess would be a Finger Lakes Johannisberg (can’t call it that anymore) Riesling or a Gewurtz. For the Rieslings, perhaps Chateau LaFayette Reneau, Heron Hill Ingle Vineyard and maybe Red Newt Cellars for the Gewurtz.


  14. Anything by Manishewitz.


  15. Nah, gimme a top Amarone from Quintarelli, Marion or Tadeschi. (I always find Dal Forno to be too idiosyncratic to be a reliable recommendation.)

    I had 2000 Marion with a not dissimilar but tres gourmet braised pork decadence at Lo Scalco and it was brilliant.


  16. Almost seems too obvious, but I think a great traditionally styled Cote-Rotie would be fabulous! Bacon heaven! 🙂

    Cheers!


  17. When I lived in Bologna we found some of the high acid local wines to go really well with rich pork products. No surprise there — the wine and good evolved together. A good authentic Lambrusco, chilled and slightly sparkling, would make a nice match, don’t you think? And we had a local white wine called Colli Bolognese Pignoletto that worked really well, too, especially the Frizzante variation.


  18. Oops — meant to say that the wine and FOOD evolved together.
    Cheers


  19. I would go the other way and want a big, jammy, California Zin – one that’s so over-the-top that it’s almost wine in drag. Think PoiZin or somesuch.

    Followed an hour later by some fruit-flavored TUMS.


  20. I wouldn’t think so.


  21. Forget red wines. Even the slightest hint of tannin will interact miserably with all that salt, and truly light reds will not stand up to the power of this dish. Salt will also amplify alcohol, so what you’re looking for is a fruit-driven, low to moderate alcohol white, or perhaps even better, a crisp rosé (Bardolino Chiaretto, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo, Spanish reds from Navarra). As for whites, don’t be afraid of a bit of residual sugar, which will pair beautifully with the sweet pork. Think about German Riesling Kabinett or Spatlese, or Riesling from Canada, or the Finger Lakes. Likewise, a new world, fruity, inexpensive Gewurztraminer should do the trick. But the most obvious choice for this dish is sparkling wine. A Brut Rosé sparkler – Cava, Franciacorta, California, lighter styles from Champagne, and believe it or not, Brachetto d’Acqui or fizzy dry Lambrusco. Have fun with this dish!


  22. […] Dr. Vino asks for wine pairing suggestions. Thanks for the tip, Wine […]


  23. I don’t get it. While there would be a lot of salt, it needn’t be too obvious to the tongue, depending on the type of bacon and sausage stuffing. Indeed, smoked and without lashings of BBQ sauce (ugh – palate killer), it could be no more challenging to match than any robust game meat. I’d try not competing with the richness and just go for a medium weight structured Bordeaux.


  24. I’m with Threemoons – It’s bacon. One of America’s favorite foods. Pair it with a monster Zin and hope for the best. Mazzocco in Sonoma has some great options.


  25. A rauchbier (smoked beer) would seem to be worth a try, assuming you can find one aside from at the Brickskeller in DC. But a riesling or big red would also work.


  26. I think a very nice pairing for this would be a defibrillator… or a quick angiogram to make sure you still have some blood flow!


  27. I agree with Franco Ziliani. The best pairing for this would be Old Style (beer).


  28. I agree with Josh. A younger Cote Rotie, say 2000 JM Gerin, with plenty of acid and laced with more bacon…. Mmm


  29. This is certainly and American pairing, so I must agree with the idea of a good over the top extracted wine such as one Four Vines zinfandels. Jammy to battle the salt, extraction to handle the bold flavor. And with a dish like this you certainly need the antioxidants and the cholesterol lowering qualities of red wine!


  30. Any “tumbler” or can of Vino would do. Couple Ice cubes in a big plastic cup. Glass or Crystal would react negatively with fine foods such as the bacon explosion.


  31. This sounds like a candidate for anything in a well crafted, sturdy cardboard box.


  32. There’s a lot of good advice here already, but I’d go with an industrial strength “American Classic”

    Thunderbird
    http://www.bumwine.com/tbird.html

    “some drink to remember, some drink to forget” – The Eagles Hotel California

    or with lots of scrubbing bubbles to help police stubborn bits from the the colon – Bud, Miller or Pabst

    or with a balloon angioplasty

    Viva la gourmandise!


  33. Another vote for Rauchbier. The style was meant to drink with the smoky sausages of Bamberg, and should stand up to this frightening log of flavor. I have two in the oven right now for the Superbowl.


  34. I can proudly say that I crafted my first (of many) bacon explosions for the Super Bowl yesterday. The occasion called for beer and that was the only thing on my mind during the game. (As a quick aside, I am convinced it is called the bacon explosion because you can actually hear your arteries rupturing.) In the future I like the idea of making a burger explosion. It would be the same idea, except bacon wrapped cheese burger – I have no idea if it will work, but in that case I would go with an earthy Bordeaux. The possibilities of what can be wrapped in bacon are deliciously endless!


  35. When eating an item of this magnitude, you might as well wash it down with a fried Coke. And, yes, that’s a real thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_Coke


  36. i gotta think that instead of wine, this would be awfully tasty with beer or a good margarita…


  37. Dr. Vino,

    What few have discovered yet, beside Jeremy Parzen of Do Bianchi, but everyone wants to try is the bacon-explosion’s best friend, a bottle of Vinoterra Saperavi 2003 or 2005 from the Republic of Georgia – where wine making first started.

    http://dobianchi.wordpress.com/?s=georgian+wine

    If anyone is in San Francisco at any point, I’ll meet you anywhere and pour you a glass of this exquisite wine. It is a match made in heaven – wine heaven – Rep. of Georgia.

    Keep up the great work Dr. Vino!

    Chris

    terrellwines@gmail.com


  38. how about a barley wine?


  39. […] these “impossible” pairings for a while. What with such nontraditional calorie bombs as bacon explosion and oreo tower under our proverbial belts already, perhaps we should ease back into this theme with […]


  40. Why are you drinking wine with breakfast?


  41. I’d sure be up for the challenge!


  42. […] haven’t had any meat in our impossible pairings series since the bacon explosion. Generally, meat is too easy for us all to pair. So cranking up the degree of difficulty, today we […]


  43. Dry rose is the first thing that comes to mind. With a decent amount of red fruit. Perhaps something from Oregon or Washington. Some pinots might work. I can’t believe no one has mentioned bubbly! (Or if they did, I missed it.) I’m sure a lot of sparkling wines would go well with this, although I probably wouldn’t break out the expensive champagne. The fun pairing to try here would be sparkling shiraz.


  44. […] with bacon-drenched everything appearing these days (ice cream, vodka, toothpaste, and the “explosion”), it’s not as if vegetarians are “occupying” the dining rooms of the […]


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