Spice up your wine life with Sichuan peppercorns
First, let’s get our semantics properly calibrated. Spices are the seeds, fruit, root, bark or other non-leaf parts of a plant used for flavoring or preserving foods. Spices are also used for medicinal purposes. Recent scientific discoveries indicate that spices have been part of the human diet for over 5,000 years.
Spices were one of mankind’s first commodities and were traded for gold, silver, precious stones and even slaves. The spice trade helped link the early cultures of East Asia with the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. For over 5,000 years Arab traders, who acted as middlemen, dominated the spice trade. Then in the 15th century ocean-going ships from the Iberian Peninsula pioneered the sea lanes to India and the Far East and broke the Arab monopoly. In modern Shanghai, we have to look no further than our local supermarket to procure these precious food additives.
Today’s wine story delves into the stimulating world of the Sichuan peppercorns. Modern Sichuan cuisine is unthinkable without the beloved peppercorns along with its equally exhilarating cohort the chili pepper. But both spices are relatively recent additions to this great cuisine.
Thousands of years ago during the Qin (221-207 BC) and Han (202 BC-AD 220) dynasties when Sichuan-style cuisine was gaining recognition as a distinct style of Chinese cooking, most of the dishes featured sweet or mild flavors. Then, approximately 300 years ago a progression of new ingredients, including the Sichuan peppercorns, gradually changed the style and character of Sichuan cooking. The last significant spicy addition was the chili pepper which didn’t appear until sometime in the late 18th century.
The dominant sensation on the palate imparted by Sichuan peppercorns is numbness. Chinese chefs believe that the numbness of the peppercorns mitigates the spiciness of the chili peppers and contributes to an overall balance in a dish. Balance is a good thing, but in my opinion a dish containing the peppercorns needs one other contributor to be complete. Yes, wine.
There are several styles of wine I like to pair with Sichuan dishes and they all have similarities; namely, they are dark, rich and juicy. Zinfandel, Aussie Shiraz and Amarone all qualify but Malbec may be the most effective in assuaging the spiciness of Sichuan dishes.
Malbec wines
Recent ampelography research indicates that Malbec vines most likely originated in northern Burgundy 300400 years ago. Then a century or two later they migrated to the southwest and became entrenched in Bordeaux.
Commonly blended with other varieties to provide color and fruitiness, the grape thrived in Bordeaux and other regions of France until a severe frost in 1956 wiped out most of the Malbec vines. French winemakers replanted with the Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other varieties that were more resilient to frost and other climatic extremes.
Today in France, only the Calors wine region in southwest France still has extensive plantings of this grape. In part because of global warming and more because they are rediscovering the attributes of the grape, Bordeaux winemakers are gradually planting more Malbec vines. Despite this Malbec will remain a minority contributor to Bordeaux blends.
Malbec vines were first planted in Argentina in the mid-19th century. For most of their history they were used to produce cheap, diluted wines only suitable for the
The two most planted grapes in Mendoza are Criolla and Malbec, but the later makes a majority of the best wines.
In wine talk, the adjective soft is used to describe wines with a smooth and silky texture. domestic market. Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s, pioneers like Nicolas Catena and others then started to make lower-yield, quality Malbec wines from high-altitude vineyards.
The best of these wines came from Mendoza, an elevated plateau bordering the Andes Mountains. More recently other elevated regions in Argentina and even Chile have started producing exception Malbec wines.
The elevation provides an ideal combination of abundant daytime sunshine to ripen the grapes and cool evenings lengthens the growing season thereby bequeathing greater complexity and elegance to the wines. The altitude also has the effect of softening the natural strong tannins in the Malbec variety. Drink a Malbec from Calors and one from Mendoza side-by-side and you’ll be able to experience the benefits altitude has on this variety.
Argentinian Malbec reds have become some of the world’s most affordable premium red wines. Global wine lovers have fallen in love with Malbec’s signature brooding dark red-black colors, rich fruity aromas and concentrated chocolate flavors often livened up with notes of spice. All these attractive qualities start with the grape.
The generous fruitiness and soft tannins of most Malbec wines make them suitable for many spicy dishes including those with Sichuan peppercorns. As with all wines I serve with spicy foods, I recommend slightly chilling them to about 15-18 degrees Celsius. The cooled wine help mitigate the numbness and spiciness while also mitigating the sensation of alcohol and refreshing the palate.
There are a growing number of Malbecs available in Shanghai. My favorites include Argentinian Malbec specialists like Bodegas Sottano, Tomero, Inca and Salentein. All four produce Malbec wines ranging that are among Argentina’s best. Others include Argento, Perdriel and the Moet-Hennessy owned Terrazas. The top Chilean winery Vina Chocolan in the Maipo Valley also makes an excellent Malbec well worth tasting.