Classic food and wine pairings don’t just appear out of thin air, they’re discovered. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not.  One day, a lucky human being decided to drink a buttery, full-bodied California Chardonnay with his lobster.  Can you imagine his delight as the Chardonnay’s butter, apple, lemon and tangerine flavors mingled with the lobster’s rich, succulent texture?  If you can’t, then please go buy a lobster and a bottle of Grgich Hills Chardonnay right now.  I’m not kidding.   You can send me a thank you note later, but you owe it to yourself.

The #1 Rule of Food and Wine Pairing is…

If it grows together, it goes together.

Catchy, isn’t it?  In fact, this rule says more about culture than it does about the complementary nature of food and drink produced within close geographic proximity.  Classic food and wine pairings aren’t just born, they’re cultivated.  People stumble upon delicious flavor combinations all the time, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident.  A classic pairing is born when we share what we’ve discovered with others and then they validate our discovery by sharing it again.  In that spirit, I’d like to share two pairings that I’ve stumbled upon.  I believe that the first is a bona fide classic and the other is well… a little off-the-wall.  I hope you try both and if you agree; I hope you share them with others.

 My Classic Pairing…

Venison Loin: Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir 2009

Venison can be purchased from a variety of online specialty retailers like Broken Arrow Ranch, Elk USA, or Underhill Farms. 

Here’s how to prepare the Venison loin:

Venison Loin 2 lbs.

Olive Oil 4 oz.

Greek plain yogurt, 4 oz.

Cumin, 1 tsp

Cayenne pepper, 1 tsp

Cardamom, 1 tsp

Salt, 2 tsp

Pepper 2 tsp

Garlic 2 tblsp

Two limes, juiced

Combine olive oil, yogurt, cumin, cayenne, cardamom, garlic, salt, pepper and lime juice together in a plastic bag.  Place venison in the bag and work it around with the olive oil, yogurt, spice mixture.  Marinate for three hours.   

Wrap the venison in foil and place in a 350 degree oven for forty minutes to an hour until the red in the meat is gone.  Open foil to reduce the juices and produce a crust.  Serve with roasted potatoes and carrots.

Try this with the Drouhin Pinot Noir 2009 and you’ll know instantly how a classic pairing should taste.  The tart, bright cherries and the Pinot Noir’s wonderful acidity perfectly complement the venison’s rich complexity.  You’ll love it.

My Off-the-wall, yet completely awesome pairing…

Cheez-its Snack Crackers: Grand Marnier

You might think I’m crazy, but oh my goodness…please try this!  The Cheez-its saltiness pairs perfectly with Grand Marnier’s orange-macerated sweetness.  I’m not saying it’s Sauternes and Roquefort, but it’s pretty darn good!

Do you have a food and wine/spirit pairing you’d like to share? 

Post a comment on this blog or on Kahn’s facebook page.  We’d love to hear from you!

Recipe: Courtesy of Mr. C. Smith

It’s that time of year again.  At 12:00 on January 1^, 2012 many of us will find ourselves surrounded by loved ones as we ring in the New Year.  We’ll engage in long-standing New Years traditions like clinking bubbly-filled Champagne flutes together and we may even share a midnight kiss with someone special. 

For many of us, Champagne is a staple for any legitimate New Years Eve celebration, but why?  We’re celebrating a New Year, so why not try something new? 

Ringin’ in the New Year with a Vodka Tasting

Personally, I’m not sure why unflavored Vodka hasn’t become a ‘thing’.  Maybe it’s slowly gaining speed.  A quick browse in almost any liquor store reveals an explosion of flavored vodkas to fuel the current Vodka martini cocktail trend; however, a close look at the Vodka world reveals some excellent choices for Vodka purists.

Here are some helpful tips to make your tasting a success

• Purchase four or five different unflavored vodkas.  Let your interests be the guide, but you could certainly choose vodkas from the same country, same grain, or feature the main Vodka regions: Russia, Poland, Western Europe and U.S. Have fun with it.
• Put the vodkas in the freezer overnight.  Ice cold vodka is different than vodka at room temperature as it has added viscosity.  You’ll also find the aromatics are more apparent.
• Glassware: Serve vodkas in fluted or chimney-style glasses.  Fluted cognac glasses or Champagne flutes work well.  If you’re in the market for stemware, we recommend Winelovers Champagne flutes,   Chill glassware in the freezer for about an hour before the tasting.
• Food: Some classic pairings with vodka include: caviar, oysters, pickled vegetables, oily fish, anchovies, herring, and smoked salmon, spicy and salty food.  Encourage guests to nibble between tastings.
• Serving: Pour an oz. to 1.25 oz. of vodka into the chilled glasses.  Encourage guests to let the vodka warm (a little) in its glass before tasting.  Make sure to smell and note the differences before tasting.  Does the nose match the palate?  What are the differences?    Encourage your guests to drink bottled water to cleanse their palates.
• How should vodka taste?  It depends on what you like, but most tasters agree that smoothness is an important taste characteristic of quality vodka.  I prefer vodkas that are clean, crisp and complex, but you might like something completely different and that’s just fine.

Kahn’s recommends:

• Crystal Head Vodka (Canada) Taste: Slightly sweet aroma and silky smooth.
• Jean Marc XO Vokda (France) Taste: Clean, crisp with loads of mineral
• Stolichnaya Elit Vodka (Russia) Taste: Anise, and spice but smooth and clean.
• Chopin Vodka (Poland): Taste: Mineral, spearmint, crisp.

American Wine: Bourbon::European Wine: Single Malt Scotch

Thank you for checking back in with Kahn's Fine Wines.  Just for fun, I thought I’d start off today’s discussion with an SAT style analogy. Admittedly, I would be curious to know how many SAT takers would be able to fill in the blank here if I excluded one of the terms.  Hard-core wine people can find numerous exceptions to the logic implied in the analogy above, but all analogies eventually break down at some point, so I think I’m ok with that. 

The gist: American wines and Bourbon require varietal knowledge, whereas European wines and Single Malt Scotches require regional knowledge.

So what do American wine and Bourbon have in common?

American wine and Bourbon labels place less importance on place of origin than varietal or style.

American wine and Bourbon are both products of a varietal culture.  American wine consumers are pleased to see labels graced with their favorite varietal and are often confused (rightly so) by European wine labels that only list the appellation and omit the grapes in the wine.  Can you imagine if a producer in Napa Valley just put the word Napa on the label and didn’t tell the consumer what grapes he used to produce the wine?  It would be unheard of.  Part of the reason is that numerous grapes are grown in places like Napa Valley.  Napa simply doesn’t imply a single grape or combination of grapes like Cote de Beaune in Burgundy, because grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grow in Napa.  Here’s an example of a typical American wine label.  Note the presence of the varietal name.

Bourbon is similar to American wine because it really is an “American whisky varietal.” The word Bourbon does not imply place of origin.  Consider that the grains to produce Bourbon are sourced from numerous U.S. states.  While many people believe that Bourbon has to be made in Bourbon County, Kentucky they might be shocked to know that no Bourbon is made in Bourbon County.  In fact, Bourbon can be made in any U.S. state.

American wine and Bourbon are functions of the American varietal culture where varietal is more important that place.

European wine and Single Malt Scotch are different.

Let’s say you stumble into the French aisle at Kahn’s and tell a blonde-haired wine dude that you’d like a Chardonnay that’s big, rich and buttery.  He might pick up a bottle that says the word Meursault and tell you that “if you like rich, full-bodied, buttery Chardonnay then you’ll love this.  It’s Chardonnay from France, and Meursault is a village in the Cote de Beaune, which is located in Burgundy.”

This is when the shock sets in. You’re probably thinking: “Who in the hell is this guy and how does he know that Meursault is Chardonnay, and more importantly, why doesn’t the label say the word Chardonnay if there’s Chardonnay in there?”  Here’s a typical European wine label.  Notice how big the region is and also notice the absence of any mention of varietal…

It doesn’t say Chardonnay because the producers want you to associate the wine in the bottle with a place, not a grape.  Walk through any wine shop and find the sections for Italy, France, or Spain.  You’ll see one theme repeat itself over and over: no grape names on labels.  There are exceptions, like Alsace, of course, but in general, European wineries want consumers to know that their wines come from a certain region.  The actual grape names are much less important than in the New World. 

Does this hurt their sales in the United States and many other New World countries?  Of course, but many wineries will never change—proof that tradition is still alive and well.

So American wineries labels have the grape names on them and European wines have the region…what about the whisky side of the analogy?

If you purchase a whisky that says the word bourbon on the label, you can be reasonably certain that it will taste similar to other whiskies you have purchased whose label also sported the word bourbon.  This is not true for Single Malt Scotch.

Single Malt Scotch, like European wine requires regional knowledge.

Take a look at these two labels.  One is from the Highlands while the other is from Islay.  Let me assure you, they taste completely different.