by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
First time I met anxious Angus Agley was at the Webster House last year. He was frowning, perplexed, showing consternation as he studied the menu of the four shellfish courses and viewed the labels of the five bubbly wines chilling in a tub of ice cubes and water:
"I'm bigtime confused and in an annoying quandary," he moaned. "And before you ask, I'll tell you why: I read about this wine pundit who pontificates that sparkling wine is inimical to fish and shellfish; I read about that reputed wine authority who gives the combination his enthusiastic imprimatur; another self-proclaimed sparkling wine expert doesn't even address the crustacean or piscatorial delights when savored with sparkling wine, advocating instead sipping the fizzy neat with les femmes for prurient seduction; and last month a sparkling wines sales rep said his product, and all like it, go best with Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Asiatic Indian and other - horrors! - esoteric cuisine.
"So what the hell are you doing here?" I asked unkindly. "And your unfathomable vocabulary is to my ears "esoteric" and "horrors." I would like to quote you in my wine column, but if I did I wouldn't be communicating effectively. People wouldn't understand me, and many would scoff that I am a pompous ass. More charitable readers would say I write incomprehensibly like William Buckley and George Will.
Angus sniffed haughtily, his face expressing disdain. "Huh! The pot is calling the kettle black! You are more obscure than I am." He abruptly turned away and sought a seat at a secluded table.
That was last year. As I recall, last year's July sparkler shore dinner was a unanimous success for the patrons at the overflowing Webster House. Every course was perfectly compatible with its paired variety of bubbly flavors among the five wines. Wine authority, Dr. Bob Ouellette, who helped select the wines, confirmed my opinion. But Angus' words resonated, and I decided to do some investigative reading on the subject of food and its compatibility with sparkling wine. My report comes later.
Fast-forward to this year's annual sparkling wines shore dinner, which attracted the largest number of guests ever - 73-plus - and necessitated a saddened, near tearful, mine host Chris Liazos to turn away some 11 others.
Welcome wine was being poured: Mionetto Prosecco Brut (.5 to 1.5 percent residual grape sweetness -- RGS) $11.99 after O'Hara's generous discount. (All wines shown reflect discounted prices.)
With humorous quips that evoked chuckles and laughter, Dr. Bob Ouellette discussed the wines and the fermentation methods used in their production, and he enlightened us about the sparkling wines we were to taste that were produced in Italy, California and France.
Guests Jeff Davis and Karen Robert were elated, said they always select the Mionetto when in Italy. As we tasted the Prosecco and listened to comments, we understood why.
My notes: "delicate flavors, varied aromatics underpin, assertive fruited bouquet with hints of golden apple, peaches, light lemon; lively, spirited, spritzy, sweet edge, refreshing." Highly recommended.
Before the eagerly awaited appetizer of baked oysters Rockefeller, prepared with shallots, spinach, Cheddar cheese - and did I detect a splash of Sambuca liqueur? -- was served, we were poured Blanquette de Limoux Blanc de Blanc sparkler ($9.59) from France. The combination defied improvement: perfection both in oysters preparation and wine price!
The flavor of the three oysters - and extras eagerly accepted - was exceptional. The unusual preparation, the complexity of flavor, elicited murmurs delight throughout the function room even when consumed without the wine. With the Blanquette de Limoux, however, the oyster flavors exploded with additional succulent tastes.
My notes: "nose and tastes of spring flowers, green apples; added flavors of lemon, honey, green grapes, hint of pineapple; nervous cascading bubbles; drier than Mionetto, more sophisticated, less expensive; price a big bargain."
Soup: Webster House's fail-safe favorite - Nantucket style New England clam chowder -- prepared from an ancient attic-discovered recipe had us applauding. The thick, tasty, creamy soup contained generous pieces of clams, potatoes, onions, celery and bacon bits. The matching wine, Mumm Cuvee M, California, $15.99, drew raves of pleasure throughout the room and generated the most orders for O'Hara's of all the wines tasted, including mine.
My notes: "sensational wine! Alternating aromas and flavors of honey, roses, nectarines, peaches, vanilla, hints of strawberry and caramel; incessant spritz; assertive fruited sweet edge exquisitely balanced by lively fruit acids; zesty, lively pronounced swallow; forever aftertaste." My niece from Upton, discerning and critical of palate, asked me to order the wine for her. High recommendation, indeed.
I was beginning to worry: The generous portions were filling, and ahead were crab cake and baked stuffed lobster with appropriately matching bubblies. Aye, here was the rub: I was determined to eat all of both and hoped I wouldn't suffer the discomfort from overeating and suffering more the next morning from a severe lecture on gluttony by concerned Dr. Bob Ouellette.
Introductory course: crab cake drizzled with warm Newbury sauce and rémoulade sauce containing mustard, crushed gherkins, capers and mixed herbs, mixed into cold piquant mayonnaise. The thick, tender, tasty crab cake was superb, although aforesaid niece suggested less Newburg sweet sauce to better enjoy the pure crab cake flavor. The matching flavor of the Rotari Brut from Italy, $9.59, elevated the taste of the crab, which really didn't need improvement. So far the dinner was exceptional and the showpiece lobster was to follow.
My notes on the Rotari: "nose and palate, toast, nuts, pears, lemon; flinty, mineral-y undertone; balanced, smooth, lingering; excellent representation of carefully crafted sparkling wine at price more consistent with higher pedigree wine.
Came next what all of us expectantly waited for: the main course of Webster House's now-famous baked stuffed Maine lobster, received fresh that morning from Maine, baked and stuffed with crabmeat, haddock and scallops, topped with melted Swiss cheese and a velvety sauce of varied ingredients, presented on a bed of sauteed fresh leeks and accompanied by a medley of fresh vegetables.
Unbelievably sweet and tender - an "incredible edible," said confirming Dr. Bob -- the delicious lobster meat and stuffing had some of us on our feet euphorically calling for owner, maitre d' and ubiquitous factotum Chris Liazos to take a bow and bring on his chef staff. Chris assured us that after the end-of-dinner dessert his chef team of John Hammerstrom, Alex Hill and Cindy Garvin and manager Jo-Ann Woupio's waitstaff of Jen Smetana, Ann Robert and Phil Colvin would appear to accept our accolades and answer questions.
Behind the scenes, restaurant manager Jo-Ann Woupio moved her wait staff rapidly and efficiently as they graciously and gracefully filled our fluted wine glasses and courteously catered to our dining the pleasure.
The interplay of sweet lobster meat, tender fish/shellfish/Swiss cheese stuffing and the grand French Champagne of Duval-Leroy Brut, $27.99, transported me to Paradise. From the ecstatic expressions of the faces of other diners, I am positive they were accompanying me.
Comments about the Champagne were so varied that I will repeat some of them here: "toasted bread, burnt coffee, lemon," "strawberry, ripe apple, lime, spice," "creamy mousse, crisp tight structure, elegant finish, reluctant farewell," "bread dough, yeast, butter, spice, pear, vanilla, nutmeg, citrus-laced finish," "elegant depth of flavor, froth from pinpoint bubbles, magnificent with balance of fruit flavors, fruit acids and creamy texture," "98 points on a 100 scale."
My notes were simpler: "prickly assertive citrus/fresh bread nose; clean, incessantly creaming mousse; complex with emerging and alternating varied layered flavors; French Champagne at its best."
The spectacular dinner concluded with Helena Liazos' famed dessert: Rhapsody in blueberry was music to my palate; stunningly delicious with large juicy sweet blueberries in a pastry cup topped with whipped sweet cream. Wisely and thankfully Helena chose a light, sweet, delicious dessert that balanced the weight of the substantial all-fish dinner.
Now to the results of my investigation of optimum wine and food matchups:
There are don'ts and dos we should recognize if Champagne is to offer consummate enjoyment. First the don'ts:
1. Champagne is not properly served with caviar: leaves sugary, fishy taste, unless the wine is very dry and very acidic, or extremely rich and complex. Better the caviar with iced vodka.
2. Forget Champagne with smoked salmon. Fish oils in lox leave the bubbly unpleasantly fishy in the mouth.
3. Champagne shouldn't be served as a compromise wine with all food. Only with some dishes can it be drunk throughout a meal, and these are comparatively rare. We lucked out at the Webster House.
4. Champagne is abominable when served with dessert, wedding cakes, ice cream, rich sweet pastries. Sweet Asti Spumante is a possibility to end the dinner with dessert and sparkling wine.
5. Champagne should not be drunk young; it is acceptable only as an aperitif when it is still fresh-fruited young. With some foods, older Champagnes that are less fruity, less sweet, less vigorous, a little nuttier, a little toastier - these may be easier to match with food.
Now for some dos:
6. Salty cheeses, salty foods that don't contain heavy fish oils are great partners with sparkling wines. Roasts nuts, slices of cured ham or dried sausage, puff pasty finger foods with savory stuffings, likewise, work great.
7. Deep-fried foods, like tiny fish, oysters, chicken pieces marry nicely with the bubbly during reception time. The spritzy, acidic wine has an affinity for food fried in oil.
8. Champagne is simpatico with subtly prepared, not too spicy Oriental and Latino dishes -- Thai, Mexican, Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese fried foods. Many gourmets find perfection in Champagne with sushi (raw fish combined with sweetened vinegar-ed rice) and sashimi (raw fish).
9. The carbonated texture of Champagne matches with the texture and flavors of vegetables, soups and eggs, providing counterpoint; conversely, still wines with these foods are...blah.
10. Some British Champagne aficionados aver that some desserts simply sparkle with the sparklers, like sweet citrus foods or strawberries: the sugar/acid balance of high-end 1.5 percent grape residual sugar (.5 percent is brut Champagne at the low-end of brut bubbly). Sweet extra dry Champagne with 3 percent residual grape sugar or even sweeter Asti Spumante pair up well with some desserts.
I related my research to anxious Angus. When I finished, he said he was just as confused as ever. He asked me what my sensory perceptions were of Champagne with food.
I confused him further when I said that on some nights sparkling wines go gangbusters with certain foods like lox and smoky and marinated hors d'oeuvres - getting and giving complexity. On other nights I said these same foods are abominable with the acidic, yeasty, fermented apple-y, toasty -
Anxious Angus interrupted: "Stop! Please stop! If I was confused before, now I am totally bewildered!"
I continued: "The palate is fickle and highly individualistic; and people's sensory perceptions are generalized and variable, not standardized and immutable. In other words, the palate is inconsistent."
Angus clasped his hands to his ears, glared at me and abruptly hastened to a table at the farthest end of the function room.
Earlier Anxious Angus said he was confused, or did he hear correctly, when he overheard one of the guests say, "Yes, this extra dry sparkling wine is much sweeter than the (dry) brut."
"Isn't extra dry drier than dry?" he said, nonplussed.
"No," I said and I repeated the history of the terminology, after trying to amuse him with the mystique of Champagne:
Some women have bathed in it; others have drunk it from a slipper.
Mae West said Champagne makes the eyes seductive and swells the bosom. Madam Pompadour said Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman more beautiful after drinking it. Helen of Troy had the Champagne glass modeled after the shape of her breast.
Champagne is a wine for all reasons: for festivity, wit, and rejoicing. It casts an aura of romance and naughtiness. It is the symbol of high-spirited partying. We pour it at graduations, engagements, marriages, anniversaries, christenings and even divorces.
Dry Champagnes are labeled "natural" or "brut." Natural has no discernable sweetness - 0 to 1/2 percent residual grape sugar; brut has very little sweetness - 1/2 to 11/2 percent grape RGS. Brut Champagnes of different shippers will vary in sweetness within that range, which is why some bruts taste sweeter than others.
Champagne with about 3 percent grape RGS sweetness is labeled "dry," which, yes, means sweet. So Champagne labeled dry is not dry.
Blame this confusion on the ignorant English wine dilettantes about 175 years ago who, although preferring their Champagne sweet, wished to emulate the sophisticated sippers who were drinking their sparklers dry. They insisted their Champagne likewise be made dry.
Astute merchants knowing their customers' characters and tastes continued to make the bubbly sweet but identified it as dry on the label. The wine dabblers were satisfied. They had it both ways: Their Champagne tasted sweet and was labeled dry. They could order the wine labeled dry to impress other diners.
It followed that Champagne intelligentsia renamed their wine "brut." When the connoisseurs had seen and heard enough of the ignoramuses who began calling their wine brut, their wine was made drier and designated "natural."
There are sparkling wines incorrectly called Champagne: Only Champagne from France's Champagne region is correctly identified as Champagne. Bubby from other areas and countries are rightly called sparkling wines.
No, I didn't overeat and didn't get the searing lecture from Dr. Bob.
Wine pick: Trinchero Family Selection Merlot 2002, $11. Aromas of cherry and plum with nuances of vanilla and cedar; these transfer to the palate producing well-balanced, full fruit juicy flavors that finish smoothly and linger after the swallow. The price quality value represents a big bargain.
Wine pick: Dry Creek Vineyard Fumé Blanc RESERVE 2001, $19.99. Viognier blend accounts for 11 percent. Aromas of lemon, cut grass and grapefruit with added scents and flavors of melon and fig. Expectedly, far superior to the generally distributed fumés from California. World class product, enjoyable even for sipping without food.
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