Astringent red wine and food?

J

Joel Stewart

Joel Stewart
Just getting into an Etna red, which makes me want to hydrate every other sip the tannins are so drying. Fruit is there, but (aside from not opening the others for awhile) what to do with this? Is cheese a good astringency cutter?
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Predictable, but fatty cheeses like brie do the trick for me.
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Not for me, high fat and blue cheeses can carry on in strange ways with tannins. Sometimes entertaining, but sometimes obscuring the wine's subtler flavors.

I'm thinking lamb, or heavy eggplant dishes. Moussaka would combine the two.
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
Yep...2000 Calabretta Etna Rosso. Aeration is taming it well enough now, but salume call sounds right nice too.
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I have a couple of those. Last year a '99 was gorgeous, more recently an '00 was nice but didn't quite sing.
People seem to have distinctly variable experiences with these.
 
The 2000 is a different creature from the more open '99 and after trying two btls of the 2000, I decided it needs more sideways time, or lengthy, lengthy decants (which worked yesterday...like 8 hrs, mind you). It became drinkable, but it was not the knight in shining armor the '99's and '98's have been. A bit dull and grumpy at being awakened, I suspect.

This all depends on the kind of tannins too, right? I've heard of pairing chunks of reggiano with young barolo to help break through the tannin barrier, but the Etna tannins seem to be made up of something else...they are sharper for one, and the 2000 seems to have almost cab franc like bitter green notes in the tannins (which I find often work well with tomato based sauces) so maybe an eggplant dish with a bit of cheese and tomato would help (thanks Christian).
 
So would that be the beans "neutralizing" the tannins, or the tomato sauce, or both? Sounds great....I'm a huge fan of bean stuff but never considered it a tannin tamer device as much as I have tomato sauces for cab francs and barberas. Maybe there is a synergistic legume/tomato thing going on that does the job?
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
So would that be the beans "neutralizing" the tannins, or the tomato sauce, or both? Sounds great....I'm a huge fan of bean stuff but never considered it a tannin tamer device as much as I have tomato sauces for cab francs and barberas. Maybe there is a synergistic legume/tomato thing going on that does the job?
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Have you considered the fat? Cassoulet usually has duck or goose confit, sausages and pork or lamb in it. Not to mention whatever they saute' the onions and carrots in.
 
If they're not sauted in/infused with some sort of fat you've wasted your time, and might as well throw everything out and start from scratch.
 
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
But of course...the fat! (D'oh!)
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Which takes us back to brie and other fatty cheeses (but not veined cheeses or anything too strong, though many find Epoisses goes well with red Burg).
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
originally posted by Joel Stewart:
But of course...the fat! (D'oh!)
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Which takes us back to brie and other fatty cheeses (but not veined cheeses or anything too strong, though many find Epoisses goes well with red Burg).
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And here we encounter one the hidden facts about wine/cheese pairing: if it's the fat in cheese that "tames" the tannins, one is better off with hard cheeses such as (traditional) Cheddar or Parmigiano Reggiano (>30% fat content) than Brie or Epoisses (~25%). Since this reinforces my own preferences (red wine with hard cheese, if with cheese at all) I'm firmly convinced!

Mark Lipton
 
I'm just surprised no one has opted for boned, breaded, and fried pig's foot with herbed mayonnaise. I mean, come on. No brainer, non?
 
As mentioned, I've had such good luck with tomato based sauces and cab francs I may just have to whip up something this week...but funnily, they are not really fat-dominant, and yet they work. May just have to add lamb chunks and beans...and fat to cover my bases this time.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
I'm just surprised no one has opted for boned, breaded, and fried pig's foot with herbed mayonnaise. I mean, come on. No brainer, non?
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I would have, but I was still digesting my guanciale and mutton knuckle chimichanga au gratin with bearnaise.
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
I'm just surprised no one has opted for boned, breaded, and fried pig's foot with herbed mayonnaise. I mean, come on. No brainer, non?
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I would have, but I was still digesting my guanciale and mutton knuckle chimichanga au gratin with bearnaise.
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Which was paired with... ?
 
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