>Dear Grape Trip,
The other day I went to a local wine store and told them I was cooking Indian food (Sag Paneer- spicy spinach and cheese) and asked if they could recommend a wine for me. They suggested this Malbec called "Jelu" imported from this place. I was expecting a white wine, but the salesman said that the wine should match the strength of the food... I enjoyed it, but wasn't quite sure it complemented the food. Can you tell me why if this was theoretically was the right match?
Thanks, Dillon from Brooklyn
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Dear DfB,
My feeling about pairing wine with any spicy or hot food is to have an unoaked white wine with the dish. I don't know the Jelu Winery's wines, but I would have tried their Torrontes first with Sag Paneer. Having said that, night before last I had a French Corbieres that was mostly Carignan with a steamed Thai Salmon dish and the combination was unexpectedly exciting. A red wine made from thin skinned grapes-Gamay, Pinot Noir, or even Grenache- with low tannin levels and plenty of fruit will often work well
with spicy cuisine, but Malbec has tannin. Just look at a Malbec and notice how opaque and extracted it is. Hope this answers your question!
