Posted on: Wednesday, February 2, 2005
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RAISE A GLASS
Fruity Rhône wines go great with fish
By Brian Geiser
The next time you grill or sauté fish, open a white Rhône varietal and let me know what you think. Viognier (vee-own-yeah), the northern Rhône varietal most common in California, may not be as familiar as your tried-and-true chardonnay but, as poet William Cowper said in the 1700s, "variety is the very spice of life!" Who wants to eat or drink the same thing time after time? So let's consider these somewhat esoteric wines. White Rhônes in general are dry with an explosion of fruit that complements the flavor of simply prepared fish, spring rolls and vegetarian dishes. Viognier is especially good with our food in Hawai'i because it has fresher, tropical fruit. It is usually un-oaked, making it a better pairing with our Asian-influenced food. You want to avoid overpowering these bright, fresh wines. Complex heavy sauces will blur the purity of the fruit, and foods that are spicy with pepper or curry will become too hot because of the relatively high alcohol content (in the 13 percent range). So bring home a nice viognier when you're planning to enjoy simple foods.
Take a white Rhône to a party and it will become an instant conversation piece because there's just not a lot of it around. Up until the 1970s, the Rhône Valley in France was almost the only place in the world producing this wine. Then Joseph Phelps fell in love with Rhône wine and started planting viognier in California. By the 1980s, he had the largest planting in California. Italy and Australia have had some success with this, too, but a vineyard owner has to love viognier because it is notoriously difficult to grow. These vines must have just the right amount of sun and rain, and on and on — or too much and not too little. Fickle is the word, but what a pleasure to drink! Another source now is Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, close to the coast halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Tablas Creek Winery is a California project of the Perrin family of the famed Chateau de Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône region. All of their vines have been imported from France over the past two decades. You're going to see a lot more of these wines in the future as the Perrins have had to set up a nursery to satisfy the demand from other growers for their Rhône clones.
I've checked around town to give you these suggestions and price ranges:
Brian Geiser is the sommelier at Chef Mavro restaurant in Honolulu. This column is a biweekly lesson in beverages by a rotating group of wine professionals.
