NJ Wine Potpourri #2

Today, I’d like to share some random thoughts about wine pairing, while highlighting a couple of New Jersey wines I enjoyed recently. Finally, a surprising winery discovery in South Carolina…

Wine Pairing

I still totally understand the sentiment, “Since I don’t like red wine, I drink white wine with my steak” or I’m a red wine drinker, so it doesn’t matter to me, whether I eat fish, or chicken with a white sauce.” I will never tell someone what they should drink (with or without food). But, as someone who enjoys white, red, and Rose wines, it makes wine pairing less challenging and much more enjoyable. Most of my wine drinking is done with meals, so wine pairing may be more important to me than those who drink wine like a cocktail during happy hour. While I sometimes enjoy wine before or after a meal, though even then I prefer to nibble on something, as it is less healthy to drink alcohol on an empty stomach and my stomach appreciates this.

Some nights I take wine pairing to a more radical level-I actually choose my meal (especially at a restaurant) to go with a wine I have brought with me. I almost always bring a red and a white wine with me when we go to a restaurant. This gives my wife and me more flexibility in choosing something on the menu that will go nicely with the wine.

For those who may not already have any guidelines for pairing wine with food, but are open to this, I offer the following suggestions:

1. With fish I almost always choose a white wine. If the fish is cooked in a buttery sauce, I like to pair it with a buttery Chardonnay. But most dry white wines will do the job. For you red wines only drinkers-try a light Pinot Noir, especially with salmon. The stronger flavor of this fish actually goes quite well with it. Mild white fish, like flounder or cod, tend to be overpowered by bold reds like Cabs.
2. With steak or other hearty red meats, I like a good Cab, Merlot, Malbec, or good red blend. The more full-bodied, the better. For those of you who will not consider a red wine, perhaps a full-bodied oaked Chardonnay or Viognier; perhaps Sauvignon with leaner cuts of meat.
3. With a spicy tomato-based dish like Chili-I like full-bodied reds like a Malbec, Zinfandel, or Syrah. If you are a white wine only drinker, consider a Riesling (especially if the Chili is very spicy). The hotter the chili the more you might consider a sweeter Riesling. Otherwise, a Dry Riesling would do just fine. Riesling is very versatile-from almost bone dry to very sweet. The high acidity level makes it a better fit with foods than you might think (even with your salad doused with oil and vinegar).
4. If you enjoy sushi with wasabi or spicy Thai food, I’ve found Gewurtztraminer and Riesling go well with most items on the menu.

Bottom line-yes, drink what you like. But just as a singer with a great voice can make beautiful music , adding a second voice with harmony, can make even more beautiful music together…So it is with food and wine. And when children are playing together it is wonderful, as long as they “play nice” with each other. If one bullies another, it can ruin everything. It is the same with food and wine. They must play nice together.

Last night, I baked a couple of filets of Sockeye Salmon with a little dill, olive oil, and lemon. I paired this dinner with a very good Pinot Noir from Unionville Vineyards. This 2022 vintage, with its savory red fruit and light, smooth finish, went perfectly with our salmon. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the salmon dish, but the Pinot is shown below.

“When in Rome” (or South Carolina)

I love New Jersey wine, but I also like to try wines from other states and other countries, too. My wife and I recently spent some time in Myrtle Beach with family and a long time friend. On a Saturday, we visited a winery called La Belle Amie Vineyard, located in Little River, South Carolina.They had a live Creedence Clearwater cover band and food trucks. The grounds are beautiful and the musical group was terrific. If you closed your eyes, you could swear you were listening to CCR. The biggest surprise: the winery had a few very good dry wines. They call their wines “Twisted Sister.” While they had more sweet wines than dry wines, we found a very good red “(Old Goat” Zinfandel); a decent dry oaked Chardonnay (“Classy Lady”); and a dry unoaked Chardonnay (“What Was I Thinking”). By far the best that I got to try was the Old Goat Zinfandel-pictured below. It is fruit forward, but surprisingly dry and quite good. It is smooth, medium-bodied with soft tannins and a dry finish. This one was not made with their estate grown grapes, though many of their wines are.

Coming Attractions

• Rootstock at Hawk Haven 2025
• Grill Night at Cape May Winery 2025
• Unionville Vineyards Summer ’25
• Auburn Road Vineyards Summer ’25

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