What goes with Chinese food? Not Dujac.

[Rick.T]

@Bill Moore

I find the best pairing is actually recent-vintage Lafite.

Barring that, I like dry riesling with Chinese.

Merry Christmas!

This.

[Keith_Levenberg]

Greg is bang-on w/r/t sherry, which is actually how I ended up making Jura whites my drink of choice. Victor de la Serna suggested sherry as a Sichuan match a long time ago and I was shocked how well it worked. I don’t understand the chemistry but something about the flor process ends up matching spectacularly harmoniously with all the fermented ingredients in Chinese sauces like black beans or doubanjiang. I got kind of sick of sherry though which is why I switched to Jura whites, which work just as well for the same reasons but have the added benefit of being 2-3 degrees lower in alcohol, which gives you a broader spice window to work with. You don’t have to stick to the ouille style - it’s the non-topped off ones like Puffeney savagnin that work the magic and are about as perfect a match with these dishes as you can imagine.

[Jay_Miller]

@Keith Levenberg

… I got kind of sick of sherry though …

[PCLIN]

@C Fu

@Mark Golodetz

Pre food:
A 1996 Combottes was showing beautifully. Cherry, rose petals, licorice, a touch of green and the beginnings of the tertiary wood floor notes. Needed time.

Unfortunately it did not get any. Knowing I would be cooking all of tomorrow, we ordered Chinese food. General Tso Chicken, Szechuan beef, Moo shoo pork, decent enough in their own right, but they instantly killed the Dujac. It tasted metallic and the fruit had disappeared.

We bagged what little there was in the bottle, but even half an hour after we had finished eating, our palates were not really back to normal. Sugar, spice and soy are not an easy match. Makes you wonder whether all those great Burgundies going to China are paired only with Western food.

You mean your dujac didn’t pair with American food.

Lol!

[W_Leonard]

Interesting talk of sherry because for Jura whites I was thinking mostly of ouillé. I am not a big spice guy and fermented does me okay. I believe that subtle flavor and a deft hand are really the culinary and vinous apex.

Agrapart Minéral 2007 was just excellent with a variety of steamed dishes (mostly seafood). It did well with the very few fried or sautéed dim sum as well. I was most surprised with how well it went with baby clams in a black bean sauce (douchi). Though maybe I shouldn’t have been due to the shared fermented elements in both and the very saline character of the clams. In the end, the racy minerality did best with the robust seafood flavors that were offset by ginger, scallion and a touch of spice.

[Everett_Bandman]

When I’ve been to some “traditional” chinese restaurants in Chinatown, most of the adults are drinking brandy with the meal. Never tried it myself though. I usually go with a German Riesling with spicy dishes, or a sparkling Loire.

[PCLIN]

You will be surprised how good a young and balance Gevrey Chambertin village wines paired with Chinese foods, but then again I love to drink GC VV young. Maybe the earthy part compliment Chinese foods just like a Pu-Er tea and the sweetness and young fruits compliment heavy sauces used in Chinese cooking.

[alexnicholas]

2 red wines I had recently with Chinese food that went well were:

Wind Gap Sceales Vineyard Grenache
Dirty and Rowdy Mourvedre Especial

[J_Wei]

@C Fu

@Mark Golodetz

Pre food:
A 1996 Combottes was showing beautifully. Cherry, rose petals, licorice, a touch of green and the beginnings of the tertiary wood floor notes. Needed time.

Unfortunately it did not get any. Knowing I would be cooking all of tomorrow, we ordered Chinese food. General Tso Chicken, Szechuan beef, Moo shoo pork, decent enough in their own right, but they instantly killed the Dujac. It tasted metallic and the fruit had disappeared.

We bagged what little there was in the bottle, but even half an hour after we had finished eating, our palates were not really back to normal. Sugar, spice and soy are not an easy match. Makes you wonder whether all those great Burgundies going to China are paired only with Western food.

You mean your dujac didn’t pair with American food.

LOL! After all these years, I’m still trying to figure out what exactly is General Tso Chicken . . .

[CWun]

@J Wei

…
LOL! After all these years, I’m still trying to figure out what exactly is General Tso Chicken . . .

Apparently, the dish is rooted in Hunan style and tech, but it really only took off in NYC by a successful Hunanese chef. (story in F. Dunlop’s Hunan cookbook). Of course, the American version has a heavy dose of sugar…

[Mark_Golodetz]

@Keith Levenberg

Greg is bang-on w/r/t sherry, which is actually how I ended up making Jura whites my drink of choice. Victor de la Serna suggested sherry as a Sichuan match a long time ago and I was shocked how well it worked. I don’t understand the chemistry but something about the flor process ends up matching spectacularly harmoniously with all the fermented ingredients in Chinese sauces like black beans or doubanjiang. I got kind of sick of sherry though which is why I switched to Jura whites, which work just as well for the same reasons but have the added benefit of being 2-3 degrees lower in alcohol, which gives you a broader spice window to work with. You don’t have to stick to the ouille style - it’s the non-topped off ones like Puffeney savagnin that work the magic and are about as perfect a match with these dishes as you can imagine.

I totally agree that sherry works.

A few years ago, I went to China to do some wine judging. One of the sponsors was the Sherry producers, and they were hoping that they could sell the wines there. Some of the combinations were amazing, particularly a Manzanilla with a crisp chicken with a fine powdered roasted garlic, and a simple fried rice. The Olorosos was a good all purpose wine. Yet the Chinese were not in the least bit interested; it was the middle of the Lafite craze, and sherry was at the time a product at the low end of the marketplace.

[CWun]

@C Fu

@Mark Golodetz

Pre food:
…we ordered Chinese food. General Tso Chicken, Szechuan beef, Moo shoo pork, decent enough in their own right, but they instantly killed the Dujac. It tasted metallic and the fruit had disappeared.

… Makes you wonder whether all those great Burgundies going to China are paired only with Western food.

You mean your dujac didn’t pair with American food.

Lol. Actually I could see the Mushu pork working with burg. The good versions have lots of earthy stuff like mushrooms and other Chinese fungi.

On the other hand…sichuan beef and general tso chicken… not so much.

[Craig_G]

Those grilled squabs we had at Cooking Papa were made for Burgundy or N. Rhone!

[CWun]

@Craig G

Those grilled squabs we had at Cooking Papa were made for Burgundy or N. Rhone!

Cantonese food for the win.

[W_Leonard]

@CWun

@Craig G

Those grilled squabs we had at Cooking Papa were made for Burgundy or N. Rhone!

Cantonese food for the win.

[Gary_York]

Look around and see what is on the tables. Bud, Heineken and Tsingtao. And or course Tea. Think you know something they don’t? Or some other good style lager. Sometimes the best choice is the most obvious.

[Keith_Levenberg]

@Gary York

Look around and see what is on the tables. Bud, Heineken and Tsingtao. And or course Tea. Think you know something they don’t? Or some other good style lager. Sometimes the best choice is the most obvious.

So all the people who have knowledgeably responded on this thread about great Chinese food/wine matches should forget it and switch to Budweiser because of what fictional people are drinking in a hypothetical example you made up?

[Mont_Stern]

Not all Chinese dishes are the same.

[Mont_Stern]

If You were set on the Dujac, You should have just ordered a whole Peking Duck.

[Gary_York]

Next time I am in Full Kee or Peter Chang’s I will try to get one of my friend to get a picture that I can send to you. What you won’t see is most anything listed in this “knowledgeably responded” to thread.