Alpana Singh believes the pairing of wine with Indian food can be “really tricky.”
That’s daunting, coming from her. After all, Singh is of Indian heritage and became a master sommelier at the age of 21.
Still, the sommelier of Chicago’s Everest restaurant said that there are alternatives to beer or gewurztraminer, the wine cliche of choice with most Asian foods. For her, that’s older white wines with some oxidated character.
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“The oxidated flavors go well with the cumin, star anise and curry,” she said, recommending either an older white Bordeaux or a “sauvignon blanc you’ve had a little too long.”
Chicago-area wine pros agree that the right matches are out there, but you may have to be as creative as Singh in finding them.
“I think what we all have to keep in mind is that the wine-food matching concepts we have come from Europe,” said Sterling Pratt, wine director of Schaefer’s in Skokie, Ill.
Those looking to make food and wine pairings with other cuisines, especially those where alcohol is not important, have to start without the traditional underpinnings or assumptions one can bring to European foods.
Though there’s no easy answer, Pratt said there is no right or wrong answer either. That means experimenting until you find a wine or wines you like.
Gewurztraminer-or “liquid chutney” as Singh called it-is often thought of with Indian food because it has a sweetness that can stand up to heat and complex seasoning.
But the pairing has many detractors.
“The tastes clash all day,” said Todd Hess, wine director of Sam’s Wines & Spirits.
At Chicago’s Vermilion restaurant, where the menu is a fusion of Indian and South American cuisines, the wine list was built as a reaction to this traditional idea of spicy foods and sweet wines. Instead, the restaurant seeks to pair spicy foods with “crisp and clean wines,” said owner Rohini Dey.
“The sweet almost overpowers the flavor and we want to complement the flavor,” she said.
At Monsoon in Lakeview, Ill., chef Mel Oza said the wines that work with his Indian-Asian cuisine are younger and fresher, where sweetness is balanced with high acidity. Steer clear, too, of wines that are too big and spicy, he said.
Singh agrees.
“You want to stay away from heavy, blowzy wines,” she said.
At a recent scholarship fundraiser sponsored by the Chicago chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, she successfully paired a South African chenin blanc with chicken tikka masala, samosas and naan from Chicago’s Viceroy of India. The wine, a 2001 Cape Indab chenin blanc, kept its cool on meeting the tikka masala’s spices. It was strong enough to hold up to the food but didn’t try to steal the show.
As for reds, Pratt would pour a chilled Cotes du Rhone from France or an inexpensive old-vine grenache with a rich chicken curry. Anything grown along the Mediterranean that’s built to handle spicy food would work too.
You want “something plump, round and juicy,” he said, adding, “Don’t spend a lot of money. I wouldn’t pull out a $30 bottle of Bordeaux.”
Jason Given, general manager of Randolph Wine Cellars in Chicago, doesn’t think reds “do the trick” unless served with a lightly seasoned dish or the more basic tandoori meats.
“Most red wines these days are 13 to 15 percent alcohol,” he said. “When you get into that kind of alcohol it intensifies the burn.”
Wines with Indian food should be simple, he added.
“There’s an old adage, complex wines with simple food and simple wines with complex food,” Given said. “Indian is not a cuisine…where you want to bring a complex wine.”
SAVVY SIPS WITH SPICE
Anyone would be ready for a tall bottle of Taj Mahal or a mango lassi after an afternoon spent sampling five whites and four reds with an assortment of popular Indian dishes. It’s hard work thinking about how wine pairs with the often intricately spiced foods of India, some of which can generate considerable heat.
In an informal blind tasting, members of the Good Eating tasting panel were asked to try and score the wines on their own first, starting with the white wines and moving to the red. Then they were asked to pair the food with a selection of dishes purchased from Chicago’s India House and score the wines again.
The food served was the kind of fare dished up all over the region: a hot lamb vindaloo, a nutty Goan fish curry, stewed spinach, peppery pureed eggplant and, of course, chicken tikka masala.
The scores told an interesting story. Although the rating for some wines barely budged, notably the red 2001 Osborne Solaz from Spain, others rose or fell dramatically. The 2002 Veracruz Verdejo, a Spanish white, dropped nearly two points while the 2002 Chateau Cantelys of France jumped up a point when tasted alongside Indian food.
The corkscrews reflect how well the wines paired with Indian fare. In the text are the aver-age scores for each wine, on its own and with food.
WHITES
2003 Nederburg Stein: A South African wine blended from chenin blanc, riesling, muscadel and gewurztraminer. The label said the semi-sweet wine goes well with “mild curries” and it did. This wine had body and lots of citrus flavors balanced with crisp pear notes. Lingering finish.
Wine score: 6.2.
With food: 6.7.
2 corks/$7
2000 Chateau Cantelys: This wine from France’s Graves region had a nutty, almost vanilla-like quality underneath fruit flavors and lots of peppery spice. A 50-50 blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, the wine delivered on the promise of its honeysuckle scent and most tasters felt it worked with the Indian food. But there were dissenters. “Bitter herbs, medicinal,” one wrote.
Wine score: 5.2.
With food: 6.3.
2 corks/$18
2002 Kendall-Jackson Sauvignon Blanc Vintner’s Reserve: Hailing from California, the wine has some crisp green apple notes up front followed by citrus flavors spiked with a little black pepper. A balanced wine that stood up well on its own and worked well with the Goan fish curry.
Wine score: 6.2.
With food: 5.8.
2 corks/$8.
2003 Santa Barbara Winery Riesling Lafond Vineyard: A “favorite” with curries, the label claims, but the panel wasn’t convinced, dropping the riesling one full point on food pairing. On its own, the wine is fine, with a bit of fruity sweetness and a refreshing spritz. But the wine heated up with the fish curry and took on a petroleum taste with chicken.
Wine score: 6.5.
With food: 5.5.
2 corks/$14
2002 Veracruz Verdejo White Wine: Though this white from Spain’s Rueda region earned a perfect 10 score from one taster, who praised its blend of tropical and citrus flavors, the panel was less enthusiastic about its pairing ability with Indian food. “No good,” one wrote.
Wine score: 6.7.
With food: 5.1.
2 corks/$10.
REDS
2002 Santa Barbara Winery ZCS: A blend of zinfandel, carignane and sangiovese, this California red was a winner on all counts, earning the highest average scores of any wine sampled. It worked very well with the Indian dishes, and stood up to the lamb vindaloo. Overall a big softie, with lots of pleasing cherry and blackberry notes and a hint of cinnamon.
Wine score: 7.1.
With food: 7.6.
3 corks/$13.
2001 Senorio de Balboa Tempranillo: Though full of berry and cherry flavors and per-fumed with American oak, this wine is more sinewy than soft thanks to the underlying tannins. Works well with most of the Indian dishes. But some found it muddy and tongue-burning.
Wine score: 6.5.
With food: 6.
2 corks/$7.
2001 Osborne Solaz: A Spanish tempranillo blended with cabernet sauvignon, this wine tasted of berries, cloves and tobacco. Some panelists found it too astringent although one felt the strong tannins gave the wine good aging potential. The panel split on whether the wine would work with Indian food.
Wine score: 5.4.
With food: 5.3.
2 corks/$7
2001 King Estate Pinot Noir: A wonderful wine on its own, this Oregon red was brought low by the Indian dishes. Tasters liked the wine’s dry, rustic style but felt it just didn’t work with the food. “Lovely wine over-whelmed by spices,” one wrote.
Wine score: 6.5.
Food pairing: 4.6.
1 cork/$28
Ratings key:
4 corks: excellent
3 corks: very good
2 corks: good
1 cork: fair
(no corkscrews: poor)
1 package of refrigerated ready-made pizza dough