Wine Pairing Your Pantry
This year the world will celebrate the 6th Annual Champagne and Fries Day, an international celebration launched by Anna Maria of Unraveling Wine to celebrate two of humanity’s greatest creations! But why is this such a great pairing, and how can you decide which wines to pair with your favourite snacks at home?
When thinking about pairings, we need to consider the five fundamental flavours: Salt, Sweet, Acid, Bitter, and Umami. These different flavours interact to give positive and negative combinations, and some straight up counteract each other. For example, Salt will amplify Sweet (Salted Caramel for the win!), whereas it totally offsets Bitter flavours (hence why so many veggies taste better salted). Understanding how these interactions take place and how to take advantage of them is what makes a great restaurant Sommelier, and a great Chef.
For the home enthusiast, rather than think of the perfect food to elevate your favourite bottle (after all, you can just enjoy that as-is), I would suggest thinking about what’s in the cupboard first: what characteristics does my food have and what can I pull from my cellar to best celebrate that?
As Maria highlights in her own blog, Fries are salty, which will allow them to pair pretty universally. Salt will positively affect most flavours in Wine while offsetting any bitterness present in something like a Bordeaux. However, the Fat content of the Fries may make for an overwhelming, flabby sensation if handled incorrectly. Champagne’s high acidity and sparkling nature will cut right through the fat, refreshing the palate and setting you up for the next bite!
While this Saturday is all about the OG combination, below are some of my favourite Aussie snacks and wine pairings for you to flex on your guests with at the next summer BBQ!
1. Honey Soy Chicken Chips and Off-Dry Riesling
The combination of Sweet, Salty, and Umami makes Honey Soy Chicken a standalone winner, but the pairing could be challenging. Sweet foods actually mute the perception of sweetness in wine, so you have to be sure the bottle you grab is up for the task. Something like Riesingfreak’s No. 5 Clare Valley Riesling will have just enough residual sugar (along with a crackling acidity) to be up to the task, or maybe try out a German Feinherb if you’re feeling fancy!
2. Avocado Toast (with Vegemite) and Sangiovese
Chef Jeff Trotter first introduced me to the idea of adding the salty umami goodness of Vegemite to an already unctuous classic, but it does add a layer of challenge to the pairing. A youthful Australian Sangiovese such as Koerner’s will be more than up to the challenge, with its bold cherry acid slicing through the avocado and being dialed up deliciously by the salt. Just be wary of excess oak tannin; I wouldn’t look at a Chianti here.
3. Samosa and Orange Wine
These perfect pastry pockets filled with spiced veg are a streetfood staple in India, and are slowly gaining a well-deserved popularity here. The spice is something we need to be cautious of; chilli heat amplifies alcohol burn and may bring out an unpleasant astringency in your wine. For this pairing we’d recommend something aromatic, zippy, but not super high alcohol and without too much skin contact. Something like Unico Zelo’s own Esoterico could be all you need.
4. Snag Sizzle and Barossa Grenache
Two stalwarts of Aussie culture combined, this combination goes harder than you might expect. A rich, meaty sausage will happily be at home alongside a full-bodied and deep red wine, the protein of the snag will bind up excess tannin rather than amplifying it. I’d choose something like Cirillo’s Vincent Grenache for it’s perky acid to cut through the fat of the onions, though your mileage may vary depending on your preference of Mustard or Ketchup.
5. Jumpy’s Chicken and Everything
Jumpy’s might be the GOAT Wine snack. Salty, savoury, gluten-free, nut-free, fun to look at, and with the perfect amount of crunch. It’s no surprise that they’re our snack of choice here at Bottle Shock, and why we furnish every guest with a complementary bowl to nibble on while they take on a Blind Wine Challenge.
If this list has left you inspired, but your cellar isn’t quite up to the challenge your cupboard has set, why not head to Bottle Shock and chat with our team? We have plenty more tricks up our sleeve to guarantee you walk away with the perfect pairing for your palate! Book a table here, or roll up Friday to Monday, 12-6pm!