Pair aged wines with wintertime food for a match made in heaven
We are now in the heart of winter: February. The shortest month of the year. The most unpredictable weather month in the northeastern United States. Yet it can always be counted on to host the grandest of occasions for opening good wine.
February is a big month of celebrations — Black History, the American Heart and the Great American Pie. Did you know it is also National Wedding Month? February is a special time for groundhogs and presidents (200 years for Mr. Lincoln). It is my mom's birthday. There was also a certain something called St. Valentine's Day over the weekend, which always delivers chocolate and roses.
And let's not forget the great international wine holiday of "Open That Bottle Night" (OTBN), falling on the fourth Saturday of the month and giving us all the ultimate excuse to open a special bottle with friends.
Put it all together, and it's definitely time for the "Top Ten Cold Weather Matching Foods that are the Perfect Excuse to Open a Great Old Bottle of Wine." Here you go:
Chocolate. It is loaded with antioxidants. It is good for your heart. It makes you feel terrific. And it must never be enjoyed without a good Porto wine. Vintage 1985 preferable, today.
Aged cheddar cheese. Find one that is at least 4 years old, with a grainy texture and a spectacular flavor. Open up a 1997 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and follow that cheese wherever it moves.
Truffled popcorn. Make popcorn. Melt truffle butter (from your local gourmet grocery). Drizzle on popcorn. Serve with nicely chilled vintage Champagne (1990 Dom Perignon will do just fine). Listen to some Beethoven.
Shepherd's pie. Even if you don't like it, just make it so that you are obligated to open an old Bordeaux. Look for a right bank St. Emilion or Pomerol from the outstanding 1998 vintage. Serve on the humble side.
Grilled cheese sandwich with cream of tomato soup. Comfort food to the max. Grab a Beaujolais wine with a few years on it. (Yes, you can age some Beaujolais.) Look for a 2003 Morgon or Moulin-a-Vent, and watch some Andy Griffith re-runs.
Mom's lasagna. Especially if Mom has Italian heritage. Do not hesitate to open that 1990 Brunello di Montelcino from Tuscany. Just for "Mom," of course.
Swiss cheese fondue. A little Gruyere, Emmenthaler and Appenzeller all cooked together with wine and garlic. Open a tall bottle of German Riesling, like a dry (Kabinett) from the exciting 2001 vintage. Kiss the person on your right.
Paella. One of the most flavorful dishes of Spain, with so many ingredients that it might be easier to list what's not in it. Rioja is a red wine from Spain that is made from a grape called tempranillo. The 1995 Gran Reserva Rioja wines are just now starting to speak. They are requesting paella.
Grilled game meats. I cannot eat anything with a mother, but I do like offering up an old Chateauneuf-du-Pape at these types of dinners. Once again, 1990 was a year for the books. Time to uncork, and recite the 13 grapes for added entertainment.
Girl Scout Lemon Chalet Cremes. Eat them right out of the freezer where you have been storing them since fall, and open a sweet Sauternes from France (1989 is ready). Light a fire and watch it snow. Spring is right around the corner.
Back to the wine cellar
As seen above, wines with some age definitely have their place at the table. In the last few columns, the focus has been on wines that can actually get better with age.
We left off with the Big "B"s of Italy — Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello. These reds will almost always benefit from a lengthy stay in your cellar before consuming. Up to 20 years at least. The hard part is trying to save them!
France likes the "B" words too. Burgundy and Bordeaux are the stuff of dreams for many wine collectors.
Red Burgundy wine is a pure expression of the pinot noir grape, and it is all about the village from which the wine comes.
As the wine sits in your cellar, it will begin to change. Many collectors will buy a case of a wine and open one bottle a year to see how the wine is developing, or "maturing."
Talk about morphing. With red Burgundy, the fruit component (cherry, raspberry, currant) will start to fade away slightly, leading to the "earthier" secondary aromas. You will hear these wines described as having flavors of bacon, smoke, forest floor, porcini mushroom, spice and barnyard.
The wine itself will take on its own personality, and with Burgundy, it usually is labeled as something like elegant, charming, sensual or exotic.
Red Bordeaux wines can last the ages and can be any combination of the following grapes — cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec. These wines can be so "tight" when they are young that you literally can't taste a thing. If given the proper amount of time in the bottle, the flavors will open up.
You will be rewarded with a beverage that delivers the ultimate complexity, like layers upon layers of history unfolding on your taste buds. Totally cerebral.
In a great vintage, wine geeks "pull the truck up" to local wine shops and load up for a lifetime. Many folks I know are still awaiting the perfect moment to open up the classic 1982 vintage.
It is all about saving time in a bottle. That is the essence of what wine is all about. Capturing a moment, a vintage, a feeling, a harvest, a people, a culture, all in one little 750 mil bottle. The magic occurs when we are able to transport all that to a future time to be relivedand experienced by others.
Other wines that fall into the savable category? German Riesling (for the white lovers), Spanish Rioja and Ribera del Duero, California Cabernet Sauvignon and Portuguese Porto, just to name a few.
Given a little age, any of these wines can turn a special occasion into one that will be unforgettable.