PERFECT PAIRINGS
Expert recommends wines to go with takeout foods
Who says you can't wine and dine on a budget? Entering the wine world can seem daunting to those who aren't already well-informed oenophiles. But the 26th annual Boston Wine Expo, which returns to the Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center Saturday and Sunday, should appeal to novice sippers and more developed palates alike.
The latter will likely gravitate toward the multiple seminars offered on the half-hour, covering every conceivable region and variety. There will also be a few non-wine discussions also, from an overview of Japanese whiskeys to a unique look at rare, $600-a-bottle gins.
A particular draw is keynote speaker Tim Hanni, a rock star of the wine world and one of the first two Americans to earn a Master of Wine distinction. He'll lead two seminars, including Why You Like the Wines You Like, a personality-sorting seminar that examines how everything from physiology to life experiences determines what makes your taste buds tingle.
But there's also plenty of reason for more casual imbibers to visit, too. Tickets to the grand tasting gets guests access to about 200 exhibitors pouring about 2,000 different wines, some of the most exclusive bottles waiting in a separately ticketed Vintner's Reserve Lounge. There will be noshes from area restaurants, such as the Seaport's just-opened gastropub City Tap House and the South End's delightful Mexican eatery El Centro.
And celebrity chef stages will light up with discussions and demos by local culinary luminaries, including “Hell's Kitchen” alum Andy Husbands, the man behind Cambridge's hot new barbecue restaurant The Smoke Shop; Preston Miller and Bing Liu of downtown's trendy new Peruvian-Japanese joint Ruka; and Johnny Sheehan of Back Bay's fine dining-meets-art gallery hybrid Liquid Art House. A full schedule and ticket options are available at wine-expos.com.
That ticket will be a solid investment, because the expo will be an excellent chance to discover fine budget-friendly wines that make for excellent food pairings without breaking the bank. To prove it, we asked seminar committee member Lloyd Foster, a founding member of the Boston Guild of Oenophiles, to pair expo-featured wines with some of the most popular genres of inexpensive takeout food. All his suggestions will be available at the Boston Wine Expo, and they're all priced at $15 or less per bottle, proving that money can't always buy you taste, and that sometimes, in fact, less is more.
Barbecue
If you're hankering for slow-cooked meats with flavor and tangy barbecue sauce, go for big and bold reds, Foster says. He's especially partial to a robust zinfandel (such as Alexander Valley Vineyards Temptation Zinfandel 2013) or Australian shiraz (such as Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz 2013).
Pizza
“It's the ultimate takeout food — and if you like red wine, you've got it made,” said Foster, who leans toward Italian selections (naturally) such as Basilica Cafaggio Single Estate 2013, a chianti with notes of dark berries, or the expressive Viberti La Gemella Barbera d'Alba 2013 from Piedmont. Prefer something on the cooler side? Drink a dry rose, such as Bonny Doon Vineyard's 2015 “A Proper Pink.” Doon's “president for life,” Randall Grahm, will appear at Boston Wine Expo seminars on Saturday and Sunday.
Chinese food
Chinese takeout can cover many kinds of foods from various regional cuisines, but fried rice tends to be ubiquitous among to-go plates, and Foster says it goes well with moderately oaked chardonnay (such as Decoy Chardonnay 2015 from Sonoma). Spicier dishes like Kung Pao chicken are great with riesling. “A basic rule in wine and food matching is that spicy food goes with aromatic, off dry wines like riesling,” said Foster, who suggests one from Bully Hill Vineyards in the Finger Lakes.
Sushi
Tastes here run the gamut from ginger to soy to wasabi, so it can be “daunting” to make any single pairing suggestion for sushi, Foster says. But generally speaking, umami-heavy flavors are cut and complemented nicely by a crisp and sparkling white wine: think a Spanish cava such as Codorniu Anna de Codorniu Brut from the Penedes.
Mexican food
What to drink: If you're grabbing a loaded burrito or overstuffed taco to go, default to a dry riesling, like the Finger Lakes region's Thirsty Owl Wine Company, or a sauvignon blanc like AVA Grace 2015; they'll work well with the complex spiciness of most fillings. If your dish happens to be particularly meat-heavy or cheesy, though, Foster says you may appreciate the “refreshing acidity” of a Spanish garnacha such as Torres Sangre de Toro 2015.
Indian food
There's a near-infinite variety of dishes to consider here, but the abundant use of aromatic spices is a thread that runs throughout Indian cuisine. To that point, Foster suggests pairing with a tempranillo, a black grape variety used for full-bodied reds; he likes Finca Milena Tempranillo from La Mancha, Spain.