Comfort Wines
With all this apocalyptic smoke and my newly-moved-into home still in disarray I was feeling in need of a little comfort food this weekend. Whenever I move to a new place or just need a little bit of a food-soothing I cook the same dish: meatballs and sauce. This got me thinking about what pairs well with such homey cuisine, and not just my own standbys either. This weekend we delve into comfort foods and what to imbibe alongside them.
“Balls and Sauce”, as I call it, is less of a recipe than a process. I say this because the ingredients can vary in infinite ways, but the process is always the same. The method of making them was taught to me as a kid by mother who told me stories of how she ate the raw meat mixture as my grandfather cooked to make sure the seasoning was right. Gross, I know, but I sort of get it also. My family isn’t Italian, but I don’t think that’s a prerequisite for making a great rendition of tomato sauce and meatballs and certainly not to enjoy it. The combination of cheese, sausage, breadcrumbs and herbs along with a seriously garlicky and spicy sauce is something that just oozes nostalgia for me.
In preparation for my meal, Flori (our Italian wine specialist, if you haven’t met her yet) recommended I grab a bottle of the newly arrived Cascina delle Rose A Elizabeth Dolcetto d’Alba 2016. Cascina delle Rose is a B&B as well as a winery and Flori has been lucky enough to stay numerous times. The wine tastes as I imagine the place smells. A mixture of dried and fresh roses along with piney herbs and juicy Morello cherries. A perfect companion to the dense savoriness of the homemade marinara and meatballs.
My wife’s comfort food, on the other hand, is from a different corner of the globe and closer to her ancestry. She’s half Taiwanese and says she learned how to make Three Cup Chicken, or San Bei Ji, from both her Taiwanese grandmother and Jewish mother. Without any recipes written down and bit of a language barrier, my mother-in-law perpetually shadowed to learn what she could, Three Cup Chicken being the first of many dishes. If you’ve never had the dish before it is a perfect symphony of garlic, ginger, soy and wok.
When I pair with Asian foods I usually look to Southern Rhone whites. For me, the exotic spiciness of ginger and the umami-rich notes from soy work especially well with the richness of Marsanne, Roussane and Viognier. I chose Herve Souhaut’s delicious side-project white Michel Savel Les Marecos Blanc 2016, a Roussane/Marsanne blend from Collines Rhodaniennes. I was introduced to Herve’s wines by his daughter, Ludevine, who worked at Flatiron a few years ago. Juicy flavors of honeydew and pear offset the saltiness and ginger of the chicken dish, much like how melon and prosciutto team up to make a legendary duo.
