White Wine In Winter? With Red Meat? Hell yes!

I confess, I’m a rule breaker.  Too many musts and must-nots get in the way. I can make up my own mind!  I say, free yourself from those iritating rule shackles!  

White wine goes with fish.

Red wine goes with red meats.

Only serve sparkling wines for special occasions.

Bad luck to walk under ladders.

Step on a crack and break your mother’s back.

Of course, the last two are absolutely true.  But, the wine rules?  Toss ‘em!  Lately, I’ve had some wonderful whites that I drink anytime I damn well please!  Last night we had friends over for a chili party.  Nope, not talking about hamburger chili.  I’m talking hunks of beef, simmered for hours and hours, until the meat falls apart and people wander in off the street, following the aroma.

The first drink I served was Margarita Tea.  Well, that lasted no longer than you could say, “Gimme another glass!”  After that, I cracked open a chilled bottle of my newest favorite white wine, UBY Collection Unique 2016 (about $12 ).

Ok.  You’re intrigued by Margarita Tea, so I’ll patiently give you the recipe before getting back on track with the white wine.

14 Cups brewed tea

2.5 Cups Tequila

2.5 Cups Triple Sec

Simple syrup to taste  (Dissolve 1 Cup sugar in 1 Cup water)

Juice of 1 lime or lemon or to taste.  Serve over ice.

If you stand too close to the punch bowl, you’re taking your life in your hands, so don’t be greedy.  Grab a glass-full and move swiftly outta the way!

See how you’ve distracted me?  Back to the fav white wine… I’ve had several UBY wines from Domaine UBY , a family vineyard in the southwest of France.  I’m only sorry I didn’t marry into the fam.

Look in the southwest.  See Armagnac?  UBY vineyards are close to the c.

UBY’s full range of wines goes from the lusciously sweet Number 4 to the fruity, dry Number 3.  All are delicious.  Then comes the latest product, Collection Unique.  Well named, Collection Unique is light, but with a fruity nose that makes you think you’ve landed face down in a grove of ripe mangos and been pelted with peaches.

So, it’s sweet, right?  Not at all.  Dry, with a well-rounded finish.  For the uninitiated, when I say well-rounded, I mean a smooth-ending, with none of the bitterness or harshness normally associated with the title “dry.”  The huge question is: Can a light, fruity white stand up to the heavy spice of chili?  Oh, hell yes!

Don’t hold back! Buy a few bottles of UBY Collection Unique.  You’re going to need them as your guests polish off your chili, hold out their empty glasses and give you a look that says “We ain’t leavin’ yet!”

UBY Collection Unique 2016 is a blend of three grapes, Colombard, Ugni-Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc.  Very different tastes, but put them all together and the balance is amazing.  I know 2016 is young, but that’s the kind of wine this is.  Young and frisky and as fresh as a stroll through the springtime vineyards.  Best to drink it within a year.

Colombard

 

Sauvignon-Blanc

Ugni-Blanc

No trouble recognizing Colombard and Sauvignon, but Ugni is a different matter, even though it is France’s most commonly grown white grape.  You may not recognize the name. That’s because Ugni goes under dozens of names, spread across a dozen countries. The taste ranges from very acidic to more politely nuanced.  Want to impress your wine-snob buddies?  In its home region, Tuscany, Ugni is known as Trebbiano.

And, my main point (which almost got lost as I rambled) is that you can toss out the wine rules.  The only important rule is that taste rules!  Pick a wine that suits YOUR palate and forget the snobs at the other end of the table who mumble under their breath about your lack of sophistication.

Now, a little more chili and a top off for that glass of UBY?  I thought so. Good choice!

And, the rules about symmetry?  Don’t even get me started!

Here’s where to find out about the full range of UBY wines and Armanacs?  http://www.domaine-uby.com/uk/the-history-domain.aspx

Chocolate and Wine at Wein Hauck

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Wasn’t long ago if you’d mentioned wine and chocolate, I’d be thinking Mars bars and Mogen David?  Are you out of your mind?  Turns out I was out of mine.

Pairings don’t always work.  Spaghetti and caramel sauce.  Teenagers and cars. Conversations and narcissists.   Angela, the high school cheerleader and …but anyway, you see my point.

Couple of weeks ago, I got an invite to an evening of chocolates and wines.  I’ve come a long way since the Hersey days.  Much more of a sophisticate, conjuring up images of Nutella slathered on pale skin, wine delicately poured into navels.  Should have known, in my world, dreams and reality live two turbulent oceans, and a mountain range apart.

You mean actually eating chocolate and drinking wine?  Well, knock me down!  Why that’s like pairing maple waffles and hamburgers….wait a sec, a popular fast food chain already tried that.  Ok.  It’s like pairing scotch and root beer.  Damn, one of my friends drinks that all the time.  Well, hell!

Got it!  That would be like pairing me with a fat woman with bad breath!  Uh oh.  I remember one time in my misspent youth….hate to change the subject, but let’s wander back onto firmer footing:  chocolate and wine.

Ever heard of Wein Hauck?  Small place in an off street near the old market in Kaiserslautern, Germany.  http://www.wein-hauck.de

If you get the chance, drop in between 2 and 6:30 p.m., weekdays except Monday.  Don’t take a chance.  Go to the web site for exact times.

Often Wein Hauck offers off the beaten vineyard events.  Music and wine.  And in this case, chocolate and wine.

Even if there’s no special event, the small shop intrigues me and tingles my taste buds.  I picture wine tasting as a blind date, except you don’t have to buy dinner, and you can move on to something more attractive and still call yourself a gentleman.

I thrive on small shops, especially when it comes to wine.  Hole in the wall bodegas in Spain.  Gordon’s Wine Bar in London.  (http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2015/02/gordons-oldest-wine-bar-in-london.html)

If you’re carefully selective, you'll find small shops are friendlier and their survival rests on every single bottle they sell. Wein Hauck is a prime example.  The owners search for wines themselves, wander the vineyards, chat with the vintners, and only sell the best they can find.  French and German bottles dominate Hauck’s cellar, but they also offer a few Spanish delights, as well as some very interesting spirits. Picked up a few bottles of a bubbly and satisfying Crémant from Alsace, just a couple of weeks ago.  A jewel.

For the pairing on this evening, we tread both Italian and French vineyards.  Here’s a glance at what our hosts served:

Prosecco (Maschio dei Cavalieri), with 60% Chocolate, flavored with caramel and Fleur de Sel.

2014 Côte de Gascogne, with another 60% chocolate, this one with ginger.

Our molars coated with chocolate, our palates already well-graped, we moved on to the red wines:

2011 Cabardes, with 60% chocolate and mildly spicy red peppers.

2011 Vacqueyras, with 70% chocolate from Sao Tomé.

2011 Côtes de Bourg, with 85% chocolate from Ghana.

You want to know the bottomline, right ?  All the wine pairing worked supremely well, but none except for the Prosecco, would I choose to drink without the chocolate.  Sounds like the wines were not up to snuff.  Nothing farther from the in vino veritas.  These wines paired exactly correctly with the accompanying chocolates.  That, my friends, is difficult.

That’s also the magic of pairing that goes beyond red for red meat and white for chicken and seafood.  Start talking chocolate and wine and the red and white rules take a nose dive.  Same goes for wines and cheeses.

In my own late night excursions into  the wonders of the grape, I’ve found sturdy white wines, especially some of the Spanish drys, stand up well to the heavy flavor of beef.  Similarly, I’ve tasted reds just perfect for a particular cheese.

All in all, Friday night at Wein Hauck  led to a solid evening of tasting and chatting, but standing around sipping wine and eating chocolate….how bad could it be ?  Our cordial hosts took us on a tasting tour that opened my eyes and brightened my evening.  The  Wein Hauck selections paired remarkably well, but had I sipped them without chocolate I would have moved on.  Neither my palate nor my mind had made the adjustment to chocolate.  Just another point in favor of a small, quality wine shop that knows how to blend flavors and select the best wines for each occassion.

Wein Hauck is adept at  specializing rather than trying to blanket the planet. This small shop is a wonderful place to ferret out good wines at reasonable prices.  They also offer their remarkable expertise in leading the novice to experience some out of the way stops on the wine road.

Want to know a bit more about unusual pairings?  Here's a great place to start.  Check out this blog from my good friend, Laura.  http://laurauncorked.com

Look for upcoming wine events and in the meantime, stop into Wein Hauck.  Tell them the guy with the broad grin and the chocolate moustache sent you.