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Wines featured in today’s show:

• Helfrich Riesling 2007  (~$13)
• Helfrich Pinot Gris 2007  (~$13)
• Helfrich Gewurztraminer 2007  (~$13)

Show notes from the Producer:

• Special thanks to the people at Helfrich and their PR firm of Folsom & Associates (cheers Sam!) for providing the Riesling and Gewurztraminer for the show.
• To find out more about the Alsace region of France, you can watch our previous episode called “Alsace My Love“, or read about it here on Wikipedia.
• And to explore the wonders of Gewurztraminer, check out our “The Magic of the Lychee” episode.

Recommended food pairings from The Som:

• What to pair with these intensely flavored and fruity whites?  Let’s start with the Riesling.    Asian foods usually work well.  Red curry with shrimp would be STELLAR.
• For the Pinot Gris, you should try it with grilled pork tenderloin.  Take note of the weight of the dish and the smokiness that comes out of the wine.
• And finally, the Gewurztraminer.   Oh…here you go: Chilean sea bass.   I dig this recipe.  Way easy to make, and I like that they mention the role of the fish oils and dense flakiness.  Combine those attributes with the Cajun seasoning and the whole deal served with an Alsace Gewurztraminer, and you got yourself a Helfrich of a dish!

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Wines featured in today’s show:

• Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2008  (~$18)
• Fish Eye Pinot Gris 2008  (~$5)

Recommended food pairings from The Som:

I’m going to concentrate on the Pinot Grigio only because I feel like it gets short shrift in the wine world nowadays.  Us wine snobs love to poo-poo Pinot Grigio because it’s the only thing our moms and rebellious sisters drink.  But honestly, its a very user friendly food pairing wine.

Let’s break down the typical P.G. for a moment:  medium bodied, evident but not overbearing fruit, and great acidity.  Dishes that work with that kind of structure are going to be of moderate weight, moderate flavors (don’t think spice or heat or intensity…think Minnesota), and perhaps a sauce, cream, or dip in play.  Right off the bat I think of fish tacos, scallops in an herbed cream sauce, shrimp scampi, rice and beans, or chicken salad with ranch dressing.  Perhaps you notice a pattern?   It’s almost an “I’m eating heathier” wine.  On that note check out this scallop recipe (I swear, this mumbling moron must be from Wisconsin, but it appears he knows how to make some nummy scallops).    Ask your wine guy for a quality Pinot Grigio.  There is a lot of crappy P.G. juice out there, but if you find a quality bottle, you will wonder why wine snobs ever get snobby about them.

Wines feature in today’s show:

• Quadri Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie 2007  (~$11)
• Helfrich Pinot Gris Vin D’Alsace 2007  (~$13)
• Benton-Lane Pinot Gris 2007  (~$17)

Recommended food pairings from The Som:

Bovee asked an interesting question during the show and I failed to bring up a point that would would have helped answer his question.  We were discussing Pinot Noir vs Pinot Gris.  I said that Pinot Gris was a mutation of Pinot Noir and that the grape skins of Pinot Gris ranged in color from light pink to almost brown.  So really the names of the grapes are pretty good descriptors of the of grapes themselves;  Noir means black and Gris means gray.One other thing I wanted to mention:  in Germany, Pinot Gris is called Rulander.

For the food pairing and recipe I’m going to focus on the Alsatian Pinot Gris.  Why?  Because it is, by far, the most interesting of all the versions.  Eat fish or roasted chicken with the other two, but with the Helfrich try this leek, artichoke, and feta number.

That’s a lot of flavor in a savory egg based tart, and you need to match that flavor and weight with your wine.  If you aren’t going with Champagne, then turn up the intensity with a P.G. or even a Riesling from Alsace.  I guaran-damn-tee you will thank me…or Bovee

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.