April 9th, 2009 by Jeff

Wines featured in today’s show:

• Domaine Ehrhart Riesling Vieilles Vignes 2006  (~$19)
• Domaine Hering Pinot Gris 2006 (~$21)

Recommended food pairings from The Som:

Alsace is one of my favorite wine regions for a few reasons.  The relative obscurity help keep the price of these great wines low when compared to the classic wines of other regions.  The growing conditions are unique and favorable to perfectly ripe grapes.  The resulting wines are very food friendly.

As we discuss in the show, these are grape vines that are grown in the foothills on the east side of the Vosge mountain range.  The soils are thin and mineral rich and the best vineyards are very steep and south-south east facing allowing every vine to get hit with the sun.  Due to the rain-shadow effect of the mountain range rain fall here is low and large rainfalls hitting just before harvest is rare at best resulting in damn near perfect wine grapes almost every year.

• The foods of Alsace tend toward the rich and hearty.  Fois gras, quiche Lorraine, or onion tarts are all in play, but I thought for our food pairing this week we might shoot for something you may actually make tonight.  I made this rib recipe last week and was impressed by the ease of the dish and the heat from the salsa, but the cool acidity of the cranberries and orange zest balance it all out.  Add in an Alsacian Pinot Gris and you have a fruity beverage that should really play well with the spicy fruit baked into the pork ribs.  One word of caution:  The pork will dry out quickly so don’t let it go any longer than it needs.