Food and German Wine
How to Choose a Wine in a Restaurant
The pursuit to optimize the enjoyment of wine and food will likely never end. Generally changes and fads are much more prevalent in the food area. Barely was regional cookery, such as Cajun in, then came Tex-Mex, Southwestern, California and Pacific Rim cuisine. Most prevalent, however, is the ever increasing mingling of Oriental and European cuisine's especially Oriental/French and Oriental/Italian. Oriental can of course mean the various cuisine's of the China (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hunan, Szechwan), Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea. Herbs, spices and textures in these Asian preparations are forcing a look at new wines because traditional wines, especially wines with significant oak and alcohol overpower the subtleties in this new taste environment. It demands wines that have bright, pure flavors with some residual sweetness, lots of fruit and acidity. Many of these dishes also bring heat to the palate, which is best handled by trading off alcohol for sugar i.e. wines that have very little alcohol but significant amounts of residual sugar.
Ethnic oriental cuisine's from Thai to Vietnamese to Korean have invaded the neighborhoods with traditional Chinese and Japanese cookery holding strong, because they offer interest to the palate and a good value to the consumer. Through it all has been the ever increasing interest for lighter, healthier food to coincide with jobs that require at most loading computer chips onto circuit boards. Ever more brainpower, not musclepower, drives the economy. The great expertise of the Japanese in the selection and preparation of fish has greatly influenced fish cookery everywhere. Broth and herb infusion are pushing aside traditional butter sauces in many of the sophisticated fish restaurants across the United States and Europe. These preparations demand pure, bright dry wines. Classically styled Chablis and dry styled Spätleses and Ausleses offer perfect matches. Oak is not spoken for many of these sophisticated preparations. As health consciousness continues to rise, extreme novelle cuisine factions moderated and recognized that finesse and elegance in a dish can be achieved only by using the finest ingredients. However, techniques for lighter and healthier preparations are now firmly entrenched in all styles of cooking. These trends provide an ever larger window for fine German wine.
The three styles of vinification - dry, med-dry, and fruity and the different weight categories determined by the super selective harvesting make it possible to find superb matches for almost any style of cooking. Today, representation of fine German wine in America's dining establishments is virtually nonexistent. Liebfraumilch, Zeller Schwarze Katz and Piesporter have in fact been responsible for creating the mindset that all German wines are sweet and cheap.
What the public needs to be made aware of is that Rieslings from top German estates are amongst the greatest white wines produced. They are wines with fragrant bouquets, brilliant flavors and great breed. Early in this century no wine was held in higher International esteem than German fine wine. In the past few years the wines have made a strong comeback in Germany's top restaurants. German restaurants are second only to France in Michelin stars awarded and the Baden region has more Michelin stars per square mile than any other region in the world. With proper planning, the successes in Germany can also be repeated in American restaurants and hotels.
What are the arguments in favor of German fine wines? They are the lightest wines produced, both lower in alcohol and lower in calories seemingly perfect for the aforementioned lighter cuisine becoming increasingly popular today. German Riesling is unique in that it can produce a perfectly lovely wine with a potential alcohol of only nine percent (9.0%). This corresponds to actual alcohol levels of seven to eight percent (7.0% -8.0%) depending on the amount of residual sugar in the wine. Acid plays an important role in wine and food matching. German Riesling's have the highest acid levels with higher proportions of tartaric acid than most any wine. They offer a much broader palate that any other varietal from light, dry food wines to sumptuous Ausleses, where fruit and acidity are in quintessential balance, to the most luxurious, liqueur-like sweet wines on earth, the great BA and TBA wines. The German labeling system clearly identifies weight and degree of dryness in each wine.
To quote David Rosengarten, one of the country's most experienced wine and food pairers, when recently interviewed in the New York Wine Cellar. When asked what category of wine was most food flexible he replied : "Well, generally what would help a wine to be most flexible would be reasonably low alcohol, fresh acidity, and, of course, good balance. So looking across the wines of the world, I'd say the most flexible wines across the board for food are dry and almost dry German Rieslings. Plus with the better Germans I get the additional bonus of the stuff having real character as well, so I can satisfy my wine brain and my food brain simultaneously."
What are the negatives surrounding German wine? Poor quality, inexpensive wines dominate the market. The top estates are not adept at marketing and produce too many different wines. The German Wine Information Bureau in New York does not have the funds and backing to support a realistic program for the large American market. The image of German wine is low. There are no flagships such as Lafite, Domaine Romanee Contis, or Dom Peringnon. Quality alone is not enough. Great wine in the bottle without the right package, without media support is still a hard sell. There is no German fine wine that promises the consumer greatness and that very special experience. Agent 007 has never seduced a beautiful female with a great bottle of Riesling. Last and also very important, German wines are sold only in great vintages and then primarily through retail establishments. A much broader effort has to be made in the on-premise market.
The goal of every fine dining establishment is to offer its clientele in addition to the fine food an optimally chosen list of wines. The menu and type of food must play a role in the types of wines chosen. Riesling satisfies and meets the highest demands for the palate while being a complement to a variety of foods. Our research shows, that traditional presentation of German fine wine handicaps the sales in restaurants. Simpler ways have to be found to put both the wait-staff and customers more at ease. Neither wants to be embarrassed while attempting to pronounce the village, the vineyard, the quality level, the varietal and the growers name. Up to the mid-eighties our on-premise business was almost non-existent. Today it is approaching 50%.
What happened? Weakness in the dollar forced us to look at new markets. We feel that weakness in the dollar will be positive over the long run. With declining sales in wine shops we have to look at restaurants and hotels for new markets. Over the past ten years this is were most of the growth has come and we have only started to scratch the surface. In the beginning, the type of wine (too much residual sugar) and the packaging was not right. The drier wines were available in Germany, but had not been exported. In Germany these dry wines are high demand items in restaurants. However, the biggest obstacle was packaging, especially the label. We have, after lots of arm twisting, developed labels in conjunction with taller, darker bottles that should give a more positive image to these fine wines. Specifically we have put the estate's name in focus while de-emphasizing village and vineyard. Over time this should establish "growers brands" and flagship estates for German wine.
Most important are the Estate Riesling or Estate Varietal wines. The word "Estate" refers to the fact that the wine is estate grown and estate bottled. The purchase of outside grapes and juice is not allowed in the production of these wines. These Estate Rieslings are vinified in three styles:
- Dry
- Medium-Dry
- Fruity
Often single vineyard, they are 100% varietal wines. Most of the growers in ILNA Selections portfolio have Estate Rieslings. These Estate Rieslings will change the mindset that all German wines are sugary sweet. Estate Rieslings come primarily from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rheingau, and Rheinhessen, Nahe and Pfalz. In the regions of Franken and Baden one will find Estate Varietals made up of 100% Silvaner, Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc). Estate varietals will be easily understood by the consumer and easily displayed on restaurant wine lists with labels that focus solely on the grower and varietal. Estate varietals will be available every vintage.
Before getting into possible wine and food matches using German wines, we must first identify six basic wine groups as described in the table below.
It should be noted that quality levels within the various wine types are as important as the indicated characteristics. Consideration as to varietal is also vital. For example, the palate often perceives a medium-dry Riesling with very high acidity drier than a totally dry wine from other varietals. Of great consequence always is the relationship between fruit, residual sugar and acidity. Because Riesling always has acids it will adapt to many dishes with the acid producing a sorbet effect leaving a clean palate between bites. Ideally the Dry & Racy and the Dry & Neutral wine groups are more classic matches to many foods. The Med-Dry & Fruity group can often be used as a substitute for many dishes.
The wines quality level and the region it comes from should always be considered when the weight of the wine becomes a factor. For example, a dry Spätlese from the Rheingau may be a perfect match for a dish whereas a dry Kabinett from the Saar will probably be too light.
For the many aforementioned fusion's of Asian and European cuisine's the fruitier, sweeter, low alcohol versions of the Med-Dry & Fruity group generally work the best.
What follows are general comments about various factors that influence the sensory aspects of wine. Acid and residual sugar, alcohol and age, fruit and spice, vineyard character and cellar work all greatly influence the palate perception. Departures from the norm of the various factors are discussed below.
German Wine by Type
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German Wine: Sensory Factor Basics
A classic varietal that normally brings agreeable acids can in a poor vintage bring unripe acids that give wine a very grassy taste (too much malic acid). Such a wine would be a poor match with food. An important taste component in the Dry & Full Flavored group is tannic acid or tannin which lends wine a slight bitter taste. Aggressive acidity can be particularly negative especially when a wine is served with certain cheeses.
Residual Sugar
In the Mild & Fruity group very high residual sugar plays an important role but only if it is balanced by marked ripe, fruity acids. With the right balance wines in this group can truly harmonize with fruit desserts which in the ideal match offer similar fruity acids to the taste. Since the wines are low in alcohol they offer a great match to the many oriental dishes that bring heat to the palate.
Alcohol
Alcohol masks subtleties and extremes. For example, a sour taste is less noticeable in a wine with high alcohol. You will note that in our "wine groups" chaptalization leads to higher levels of alcohol. It is for this reason that we can substitute a "Estate Wine" form J.J. Prüm - the Dr. M. Prüm Estate Riesling for one Prüm's predicate level wines such as a Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese.
Age
Age makes a wine more mellow. The acids soften (lactic acid increases in proportion with age) and sweet and sour tastes become more completely integrated. In a younger wines these tastes are often perceived as separate. Some oxidation in racy varietals can offer interesting taste components which match well to smoked hams and meats.
Fruit
Fruit can elevate an average wine to a noble one, especially in varietals such as Riesling and Pinot Noir. However, too much up front fruit in a very young wine is a very important factor in the food matching scheme. Aging will tone down overt fruitiness and result in matches different from those for a young wine.
Spice
Very spicy wines are usually poor food matches. This characteristic or marked taste tends to overpower most dishes. For dessert or as an aperitif this can work well. This does not point to the very subtle, spicy notes often present in Riesling and Pinot Noir.
Varietals
There are many varietals (grape types) in Germany. Four of the most well known are Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, and Scheurebe. Each of the above grapes will produce wines with different flavor types and acidity / sugar levels. To the person who understands German wine these various varietals are understood to express a very specific character.
Vintage
A vintage that brings normal development to the varietal is implied for this discussion. An atypical vintage like 1982, where many wines suffer from an unpleasant vintage character, in addition to low acidity, should not be included.
Vineyards
In certain sites, the normally crisp, racy Rieslings, can because of adverse soil and climate conditions, become heavy, ponderous and plumb. The wines should be typical for the vineyard and region.
Cellar Work
The cellarmaster must always strive for the specific, representative, typical expression and definition of the varietal, without sacrificing the heritage or his/her hand in the finished wine.
After a dining establishment has agreed to featuring German fine wines, some important tasks still lay ahead. Staff seminars must be conducted to explain which wines can be served with the various offerings on the menu. To aid in the staff seminar/training we developed the following German wine and food pairing tables.
Food and German Wine Pairings
The selections should be evaluated on a continuing basis to see which wines sell and which do not. Find out the reasons why. A wine list should be very readable, simple, easy to understand. It should stir interest and whenever possible suggest some wine and food pairings. We see the following tables as reference tool that you can always use. With the direction food is taking we feel that German Riesling just may be the varietal of the future.
The following tables are basic guides to pairing German wine and food.
Shellfish & Crustaceans
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Fish
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Innards
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Fowl & Game
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Venison & Lamb
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Pork & Beef
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Veal & Rabbit
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Pasta, Soufflé, Egg, Rice
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Sausages, Pates, Ham
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Cheeses
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Soups
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Dessert & Fruit
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