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September 8, 2016

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Macon wines a delightful match with seafood

SEAFOOD and wines are more than best friends, they’re inseparable lovers. I couldn’t fathom enjoying a nice seafood dish without an accompanying glass of wine. The drink you choose to enjoy when eating seafood can be the difference between dreary mediocrity and scrumptious excellence.

The perfect wine for seafood very much depends on the type of seafood and preparation method. Fruit, minerality and other qualities found in wines are all beneficial, but it’s the acidity that’s most important. Gourmet cultures around the world have historically used acidic liquids or ingredients to embellish their seafood. In the west it’s popular to sprinkle lemon on fish and shellfish, while Thais liberally use lemon grass to add freshness and balance to their seafood dishes. In our fair city enjoying seasonal hairy crab without vinegar is unthinkable. Pairing an appropriate style of wine awakens the best fresh and natural flavors of seafood. In general, white, rose and sparkling wines are easiest to pair with seafood but a minority of red wines may also be fine partners.

Today’s iDeal section introduces assorted condiments and sauces made from seafood including oyster sauce, fish sauce, shrimp paste, shrimp soy sauce and dried scallops. These sumptuous ingredients add appealing savory umami qualities and pungency to dishes making them wonderful partners to exuberantly fresh and fruity wines. One wine that perfectly fits the bill comes from southern Burgundy.

Macon ACs

Located in southern Burgundy between Cote Chalonnaise to the north and Beaujolais to the south, Macon is a large area with several notable village level and regional AC wines. Vines were first cultivated in Macon by the pre-Roman Celts more than two thousand years ago. During the Roman Empire, Macon was an important trading town known for many quality foods and wines. For most of its history the area was best known for its Pinot Noir and Gamay red wines but during the 20th century white wine production started to supplant that of red wine and today whites represent the vast majority of Macon wine production.

The most important grape in Macon is not surprisingly Chardonnay but one can still find some Gamay and a limited amount of Pinot Noir red wines. For the better part of the past century the wines of Macon were considered at best daily quenchers. We can blame this on unscrupulous producers who made unacceptably high yield wines using less than ethical winemaking methods. However the past 10 to 15 years has witnessed a marked improvement in quality. Today the whites of Macon represent one of France’s best white wine values.

When buying a basic Macon AC wine its advisable to be selective and only buy wines from reputable producers. A number of mass produced, diluted and insipid Macon AC wines from generic producers still exist. Some of the better names to look for that have wines available in Shanghai are Joseph Drouhin, Bouchard Pere & Fils, Claude Chonion and Louis Jadot.

In increasing levels of quality the wines of this region are organized into Macon AC, Macon Superieur AC and Macon-Villages AC wines. You can also find Primeur and Nouveau Macon wines but in my opinion these wines like their counterparts in Beaujolais are best avoided. The Macon Superieur AC denotes wines with at least 11 percent alcohol compared to the 10 percent minimum requirement for Macon AC wines. Most these wines are eminently drinkable if not terribly distinguished. At the top of the Macon pyramid are the Macon-Villages AC wines that are made in and around 43 local villages. The most famous village with its own appellation is Pouilly-Fuisse but these wines carry a premium price tag. I suggest choosing some of the lesser recognized villages as they offer significantly better price/value ratios. Some of the better villages are Aze, Ige, Prisse, Lugny and Chardonnay, a village named after the region’s most famous white wine grape. The villages of Clesse and Vire now have their own appellations like Pouilly-Fuisse but are still quite reasonably priced..

Stylistically Macon whites vary in style according to the village they come from and the producer, but in general all good examples are fresh, concentrated, fruity with a pleasant mouthfeel and charming vivacity. All these qualities make them natural companions to dishes made with or accompanied by pungent fish condiments and sauces. White wines may dominate the Macon landscape, but the region also produces some quite pleasant Gamay and Pinot Noir red wines that pair nicely with seafood.

Macon reds are light to medium bodied with lively fruitiness balanced by good acidity and gentle tannins. They are also low in iron. It’s exactly these qualities that help them match well with seafood dishes or dishes featuring seafood condiments and sauces. Recently I enjoyed a Macon red wine with sautéed scallops in XO sauce. The fresh fruit beautifully highlighted the natural sweet flavors of the scallops while the lively acidity in the wine nicely offset the pungent and spicy qualities of the XO sauce leaving my palate clean and refreshed. An inspiring pairing indeed!

Where to buy in Shanghai

Everwines, 200 Taizhou Rd, 3203.0293

Joseph Drouhin Macon-Villages Blanc

Joseph Drouhin Pouilly-Fuisee

Pudau Wines, 276 Wukang Rd, 6090.7075

Bouchard Pere & Fils Macon-Villages Blanc

Bouchard Pere & Fils Macon Rouges

Yesmywine.com (website)

Claude Chorion Macon-Villages Blanc




 

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