The story appears on

Page B3

April 27, 2017

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Feature » iDEAL

The joy of mixing Chinese food with wine

WHEN I think about the quality and veracity of information on pairing wines with Chinese food the first thought that comes to mind is fake news.

So much nonsense has been written about this topic that its almost counterproductive to search the subject. With this in mind I guess it’s time to go on my annual diatribe against the prevailing misinformation on pairing wines with Chinese foods.

First myth to dispel is the common naive concept that Chinese food is one generic messy mix of dishes served at once. In fact, Chinese food is one of the most diverse and varied in the world, far more so than French or Italian.

A second myth to dismiss is that Chinese food pairs best with beer.

Enjoying beer is perfectly okay, but even at its best beer is a neutral partner to Chinese food and not an embellisher like the right wine for the right dish.

Advocating tea with Chinese dishes at least sports a solid historical foundation but in reality, everything tea does with Chinese dishes wine does better.

While one style of wine that matches with all Chinese food doesn’t exist, there’s a wine suitable for practically every Chinese dish or meal.

The challenge is properly pairing a range of wine styles with different Chinese dishes. This is admittedly still a brave new world.

Unlike wine growing countries in the west where food and wine evolved together over the centuries or even millenniums, China has never really had a culture of pairing its great and diverse cuisines with wine.

I’ve done some consulting for premium Chinese “baijiu” liquor producers and the master distillers I’ve worked with readily admit that while Chinese spirits have long been served with food there’s never been much sophistication in pairing them with food. The same is true with tea and rice wine.

Ultimately the onus for successfully pairing wines with regional Chinese cuisines lies with local wine drinkers who are as intimate with their own regional cuisines as they are with wines.

This will undoubtedly take time, but the endeavor promises to be deliciously fun.

The diversity of ingredients and cooking techniques in Chinese regional cuisines demands a multiplicity of wine solutions.

I have written on the affinity between Beaujolais Cru wines and dim sum, Sherry and hairy crab, Pinot Noir-centric sparkling wines and Beijing duck and ripe Zinfandel reds with Hunan dishes.

There exist many compelling combinations. But let’s say you’re visiting a Chinese friend’s home and know the meal will be Chinese but have no idea what style of cuisine will be served.

In this hypothetical scenario, you’re safest bring a nice brut or extra dry sparkling wine or fresh white wine. But if host favors a red wine then Barbera is a fine choice.

Barbera

It’s difficult to avoid hyperboles when describing Barbera’s affinity for food. This extends to multifaceted Chinese cuisine.

Whether you’re enjoying the diverse ingredients and delicate flavors of Cantonese or the stimulating pungency of Hunan and Sichuan, Barbera performs the vital function of making Chinese food taste better.

Lighter Barbera wines are lovely with Cantonese, Fujian or Shanghai meals that combine seafood and meat. These wines have the acidity to emphasize the freshness of the seafood and highlight their natural flavors.

At the same time the gentle tannins in the wines will work perfectly well with white or red meat dishes.

Heavier Barbera wines with longer oak aging are best with meat dishes. The tannins of the more structured wines accentuate the best qualities of hearty braised or stewed meats embellishing their sauces with added elegance and aromas while facilitating digestion.

With the popular grilled meats in northern China, these weightier Barbera are ideal.

Barbera wines have experienced a renaissance not only for their food-friendly qualities but also because of improvements in quality. Traditionally, because it ripens about two weeks before the Nebbiolo grape, growers in Piedmont would select inferior vineyards to grow Barbera and save the best vineyards for Nebbiolo.

The Barbera variety is also prolific and without careful pruning and yield management makes lean and insipid wines of little character.

The pedestrian image of Barbera started changing about two decades ago when a new breed of barrel-aged and sometimes barrel fermented wines with amble fruit and structure hit the scene.

While underwhelming Barbera wines still exist, you’re more likely than ever before to get a well-made, balanced wine. Barbera wines can be found from the northernmost to southernmost reaches of the Italian peninsula but the most noteworthy still come from Piedmont where two major styles exist.

Barbera d’Asti named after the town that’s surrounded by Barbera vines is perhaps the best known. These wines tend to exhibit good color, ample red fruit and berry aromas and flavors and a healthy dose of acidity.

Barbera d’Alba comes from the home of Piedmont’s world famous white truffles and while the most prized wines of Alba remain the grand Barolo and Barberesco reds, Barbera wines are winning acclaim. Typically, more full-bodied than their Asti neighbors these wines feature black and red fruit with soft tannins.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend