Pair it up!
Which wine under $20 would you pair with this: “rigatoni country style, which includes pasta, white beans, sausage, broccoli and a lot of garlic.”
If this sounds familiar, you must work in one of 12 NYC wine shops that got asked this question recently. Or you read the WSJ. Wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher dispatched their assistant to query (anonymously) wine merchants about their food wine pairings. Then they ordered the rigatoni dish from their favorite take-out and tasted through the wines.
I’ll just reproduce their comments from the top two recommendations from their July 14 column. Unfortunately, the column is only available behind the WSJ subscription barrier. However, I’m pleased to say you can find all the shops plotted on my map of NYC wine shops–totally free!
VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Ca’Montini ‘L’Aristocratico’ Pinot Grigio (Trentino) 2004
PRICE: $16.99 (find this wine)
PLACE PURCHASED: Mister Wright, Manhattan
TASTERS’ COMMENTS: Best of tasting (tie). The bright acidity of the wine cuts right through the heaviness of the dish, like a splash of lemon. The food gives the wine weight while the wine lifts the food. Like a great marriage, they make each other better.
VINEYARD/VINTAGE: Santi ‘Solane’ Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso 2003
PRICE: $17.99 (find this wine)
PLACE PURCHASED: Eli’s W.I.N.E., Manhattan
TASTERS’ COMMENTS: Best of tasting (tie). Lusty wine for lusty food. The wine seems proudly rustic, dancing on the tongue, which makes the food get up and dance, too. Put them together and we just wanted to say, “Get a room.”
It’s odd that two such contrasting wine styles worked for them with the dish. What do you think would work?
The other shops queried in the story are ranked here by effectiveness of pairing (I’d suggest more than one pick from each shop before writing any list of shops in stone):
Pasanella and Son Vintners
Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit
Best Cellars
Smith & Vine, Brooklyn
Gotham Wine & Liquors
Discovery Wines
Crush Wine & Spirits
Moore Brothers
Big Nose Full Body, Brooklyn
The Greene Grape
Image: maomau
tags: wine | wine + food pairings | NYC wine stores
On August 16th, 2006 at 10:20 pm ,Anali wrote:
That is funny that you posted this now. Just last week, I had some left over Riesling that had been in the fridge for a while and I had some left over sauce from Chinese take-out. I mixed them together, added some black pepper and a touch of sea salt for a fish marinade. I grilled it and it was good!