Whenever a pandemic isn’t disrupting the social calendar, I consult each fall with Dr. Ron Jan on the pairing of foods and wines for A Taste of Asia, a banquet fundraiser for the Paul Hom Asian Clinic, the oldest Asian health clinic in the United States, dating from 1971.
Dr. Jan is the clinic’s director, overseeing medical students of the University of California, Davis, who provide health services for Sacramento’s elderly Asians.
The dinner is Saturday, the first in three years, and it’s sold out, but to stimulate consideration of food-and-wine pairing I am sharing here the menu and the choice of wines we settled on:
The Vinh Phat Market roast pig with hoisin sauce will be accompanied by the Lusso Della Terra Winery & Vineyard Pet Nat Barbera ($32): Lusso Della is a new winery in the Fiddletown area of Amador County, setting itself apart early by its extensive lineup of sparkling wines, rare among wineries of the Sierra Foothills. One of those wines is the Pet Nat Barbera. Though the wine’s effervescence is more gentle than commonly found in sparkling wines, its deep cranberry color, pronounced berry aroma, fruity delivery and substantial structure make it an amiable companion for the richness and meatiness of roast pig. As to its name, “Pet Nat” is wine-geek shorthand for “petillant naturel,” which translates as “naturally bubbling.” Unlike Champagne and California sparkling wines generally, pet-nat bubblies do not undergo a secondary fermentation with added sugar and yeast. Rather, pet-nat wines are regular wines that are bottled before their fermentation is finished, which explains both their softer froth and their closure – a metal crown rather than cork.
The Kru poached shrimp and avocado salad with yuzo/miso cream sauce is being paired with the Andis Wines 2021 Sierra Foothills
Arinto ($30): Like the Lusso Della Pet Nat Barbera, the Andis Wines Arinto is another wine new to the market. Arinto is a green grape grown extensively in Portugal, where it yields the country’s immensely popular Vinho Verdes. The Andis Arinto, however, delivers more drive and crisper acidity than commonly found in Vinho Verde. With its bright acidity, inviting perfume, and suggestions of lemon verbena, watermelon, pineapple and mango, the Andis Arinto is a perfect companion for all the zest, varied textures and wide-ranging flavors of the poached shrimp and avocado salad.
The House of Authentic Ingredients (THAI) battered and deep-fried pork belly will be served with the Clarksburg Wine Company 2017 Clarksburg Cabernet Sauvignon ($28): The pork belly is a delightful dish, all direct and spirited flavor, calling for a wine of equal weight, frankness and animation. The Clarksburg Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon is a refreshing Delta breeze all on its own, sweeping across the palate with bright red-fruit flavors – cherries, raspberries, strawberries. It is dry and warm, with uncommonly uplifting acidity for a Cabernet Sauvignon, giving it a finely honed edge for cutting through the savory meat of the pork belly.
The Blue House Korean Barbecue beef bulgogi is matched with the Jeff Runquist Wines 2020 San Joaquin County Petit Verdot ($28): With its richness and spice, the beef bulgogi has a lot going on, calling for a wine of comparable heft and layering. That would be the Jeff Runquist Wines Petit Verdot. Through its lavish berry fruit, thread of mocha, flanking smoke, backing tannins and ample oak, the Runquist Petit Verdot meets stride for stride the sweet and juicy abundance of the beef bulgogi.
The Quan Nem Ninh Hoa vegetable and sausage spring rolls are to be served with the Due Vigne Winery 2021 Amador County Lyman Vineyard Vermentino ($28): This is another course with several diverse and moving parts, from the savory richness of sausage to the sweetness and spice of assorted dipping sauces. Few wines are as well equipped to handle all that as the Due Vigne Winery Vermentino. In Italy, where Vermentino is grown in several provinces, the grape typically yields light, crisp, readily accessible white wines. The Due Vigne springs from that mold, showcasing sunny and focused citric and stony fruit on a lean frame with lifting acidity, all of which add up to a fittingly vibrant companion for the spring rolls.
The Mehfil’s Indian Restaurant butter chicken is being paired with the Terra d’Oro Winery 2021 California Chenin Blanc/Viognier ($16): Curried and creamy, butter chicken calls for a white wine of atypical authority and endurance. Stepping up confidently to play that role is the Terra d’Oro Winery Chenin Blanc/Viognier. A blend of fruit from Clarksburg and Amador County, the Terra d’Oro is a wine of unusual electricity, seizing both the delicately sweet fruit of Chenin Blanc and the notes of honeysuckle found in Viognier. In addition to its refreshing fruit, the wine is inviting in its floral perfume, fine-boned balance and nippy acidity, ideal for penetrating the density of butter chicken.
The T Kee Restaurant honey walnut prawns is being served with the Yao Family Wines 2018 Napa Crest Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($39): A dish of complexity, meatiness, sweetness and vigor, honey walnut prawns calls for a wine of equivalent muscle, complication and force. In the bloom of its floral aroma, the swagger of its ripe fruit, and the ardor of its threads of herbs and smoke, the Yao Family Wines Sauvignon Blanc is more than ready to stand up to all the richness that honey walnut prawns can dish out.
The Red Ribbon Bakeshop mango cake is paired with the Vino Noceto 2021 California Frivolo ($21): The cake is fruity and sweet, the Vino Noceto Frivolo is fruity and sweet, making for a splendidly harmonious pairing. What’s more, the Frivolo, a blend of the grapes Moscato Bianco and Orange Muscat from several Northern California vineyards, is imbued with a fleeting spritz that brings to a dessert wine more than usual spunk.