By Randal Caparoso
Come fly with me
Come fly
Let’s fly away…
I'm a traveling man. Haven't always been like that; but in recent years it hasn't been unusual for me to be gone from home one, two, or over four weeks at a time.
If you can use some exotic booze
There’s a bar in far Bombay
… although I'm a bit more of a "wining boy" than a booze hound. It's funny, though, when you become familiar with the habits of your fellow travelers, and the lengths they go to retain some of the creature comforts of home. I know people who tote around their favorite pillow, light up scented candles, and bathe with their special oils and soaps — anything to feel less of a stranger in strange lands.
As for myself, I eat chicken. Everywhere I go. This restaurant or that — chicken sandwich for lunch, roasted chicken for dinner, chicken sausage for breakfast — I feel pretty much "at home" anywhere, as long as I'm eating chicken. Which doesn't necessarily make me the world's greatest expert on chicken. However, there are two things I do know…
- Ordering chicken in every restaurant gives you a pretty good idea of how good or bad, and detail oriented every restaurant's chef is. I know, for instance, why Daniel's in New York, Zuni Café in San Francisco, and Wildwood in Portland are considered three of the country's top restaurants: they do some incredible chicken.
- I'm pretty good at choosing the best wine for a wide range of chicken dishes. For every chicken, I say, there is probably a great wine to back it up.
Think of it. No one really says, "This is the perfect tea, or coffee, for Chinese beggar’s chicken.” Or, "The classic beverage for southern fried chicken is undoubtedly a Big Gulp." But they do say that Bourgogne (a Pinot Noir from France) is the perfect match for coq au vin (chicken cooked in wine); and that Chianti Classico (the red wine of Tuscany) is a natural with cacciatore (chicken braised with tomatoes and mushrooms). A good wine, in other words, can elevate the most pedestrian of chickens to aesthetic levels. That's why they call it "fine wine."
Come fly with me
Let’s float down to Peru
In llama land there’s a one man band
He’ll toot his flute for you
Me? I'll provide some wine for thought with some of the more familiar variations of chicken you may find, at home or faraway…
Coq au Vin Blanc
Chicken simmered in red wine, bacon, pearl onions, mushrooms and garlic cloves is wonderful with red Pinot Noir from France, California, Oregon, or any place you can find soft, silky examples of this naturally earthy-spicy red wine. But for coq au "vin blanc" — substituting white wine for red in the cooking — the better match is a dry white wine with either a modicum of stony earthiness (such as a Chardonnay based white from Macon Villages in France, from California's Santa Barbara or Washinton State), or with a suggestion of floral sweetness in the scent (such as a dry style Riesling or Pinot d’Alsace from France, or a German halbtrocken Riesling).
In California, Trefethen, Ventana and Bonny Doon’s "Pacific Rim" make very fine, dry style Rieslings. Among other Chardonnay types, those of Oregon’s Argyle, Eola Hills and King Estate can be wonderfully crisp, creamy and moderately scaled; from Washington State, the round and minerally Chardonnays of Woodward Canyon, Canoe Ridge and Chateau Ste. Michelle; and from South America, I like the smooth stoniness (not to mention, great price) of the Veramonte, Santa Julia, and Catena Chardonnays.
Chicken Cacciatora
The familiar Italian chicken is cooked either with tomatoes, herbs and white wine, or braised with black olives and anchovy. Sometimes all of it. Chianti Classico, which is made from the red Sangiovese grape, has the natural acidity and cherry tomato-like fruitiness to match. But it doesn't have to be Chianti.
Other excellent, and often lower priced, Sangiovese-based red wines from Italy include Carmignano and Sangiovese di Romagna. Some of the new California grown Sangioveses — such as those of Luna, Robert Pepi, Swanson, and Seghesio — have enough zip and fruitiness to do the job. From Italy's Piemonte region, red wines made from Dolcetto grape offer similar qualities, with more black than red cherry fruitiness, along with a nut-toned zinginess.
Chicken Paprikas
The late Roy Andries de Groot once described the old version of the Hungarian style of chicken — browned with goose fat, then braised with onions, garlic and, finally, a sauce pigmented by the mildly spiced paprika chile before thickened with sour cream — as one of the world's most glorious dishes. For that, de Groot would recommend a lovingly cellared, old French Bordeaux or California Cabernet Sauvignon — soft, yet rich enough to absorb the avalanche of sweet, spicy, succulent flavors in paprikas style chicken.
But. since most of us do not age our red wines, let alone own a cellar, I recommend a soft, lushly fruited, California grown red wine made from the Merlot grape (my favorites include Voss, Swanson, and de Lorimier); or one of California’s elegant yet dense, juicy combinations of the Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (especially the de Lorimier "Mosaic," the Justin "Justification," Murrieta’s Well, or the powerfully elegant Quintessa). Just the thing to wrap around this luscious, decadently rich style of chicken.
Lemon or Ginger Chicken
The familiar Chinese style dishes — in sweet /sour lemon sauces, or steamed with ginger and garlic — call for more exotically perfumed white wines that combine both acidity and some residual sugar. But this does not mean, as often assumed, Gewurztraminer — a lychee scented white wine that has a tendency towards low acid and slightly bitter (or bittersweet) qualities.
The best white wine for strongly flavored Chinese style chickens is Riesling; and the finest, lightest and crispest Rieslings come from Germany — especially the Kabinett quality styles from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer or Rhine River regions (Rheingau or Pfalz). There is a wonderful new Washington St. grown Riesling call "Eroica," a product of a joint partnership involving Chateau Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen of Germany’s Mosel River. From Australia, I highly recommend the Leeuwin Estate Riesling; and from New Zealand, those of Framingham or Villa Maria — all wonderfully tropical-scented wines with just a hint of sweetness, and the zesty acidity to harmonize with sweet / spicy / gingery Asian style chickens.
Chicken Etoufée
In North America, and around the world for that matter, the Cajun-Creole style of casseroled chicken may very well reign supreme. Versions such as Paul Prudhomme's — given great volume (but not overly thickened) by roux, the "holy trinity" of onions, bell peppers and celery, and more than a dozen other spices and seasonings — are both complex and mercilessly intense. Dishes indubitably suited to bright and assertive red wines.
My personal favorite etoufee match is California Zinfandel — especially the velvety, peppery-cinnamon-and-clove, berry jam-like scented Zinfandels produced in Sonoma by the likes of Nalle, Quivira, De Loach, Ravenswood, Ferrari-Carano, Ridge, and Dry Creek Vineyards. Of those from Napa Valley, Zinfandel connoisseurs swear by Robert Biale and Turley Wine Cellars, although Blockheadia Ringnosii is just as bright and juicy. In Paso Robles, Peachy Canyon and Eos makes outstanding all-American styles — big, brash, unabashedly fruity — for this all-American style of chicken.
What more could a chicken and wine lover want? Let's fly!
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