MRE Menu 13: Cheese Tortellini

A Note from the Taliban:  We apologize for interrupting the posting of yesterday’s blog with our continued hostilities throughout southern Afghanistan.  We will try to be more considerate of the wine and food loving public in the future.

And now for today’s pairing.  The pasta in this case is neutral in terms of flavor, texture, nutritional value, and so forth, so the key element for the pairing is the processed cheese food inside.  Almost acting like a compote, the dark cherry of a Central Otago pinot noir from New Zealand will harmonize with and stand up next to the dense cheese in the tortellini.  With quality producers here judiciously using proven winemaking techniques and barrels from this variety’s spiritual home in France, the intense fruit will be balanced by spicy notes and streaks of minerality reflective of the local terroir.

Desirable characteristics for a white wine pairing would be acidity to cut through the fat in the cheese, yet with enough structure to stand up to its strong flavors.  Such a wine can be found in northeastern Italy in the region of Friuli, made from tocai friulano.  Nutty notes on the finish will serve to bring out the very best from this substandard cheese.

Complementary Pairing:  Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand

Try:  Quartz Reef Bendigo Estate Pinot Noir

[www.quartzreef.co.nz]  The production here mirrors a Burgundian model.  The grapes are mostly destemmed, with a small percentage of whole clusters depending on the vintage, and are then given a cold soak before the start of a temperature-controlled fermentation.  After the completion of fermentation and additional maceration, the wine goes into mostly new barriques, and will be fined but not filtered prior to bottling.

Contrasting Pairing:  Friulano, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Try:  Schiopetto Collio Friulano

[www.schiopetto.it]  This classic expression of friulano comes from vines over 40 years old planted on marl.  In order to preserve the purity of the fruit, aging is in all stainless steel tanks for approximately 8 months.  Look for floral aromatics, with golden pear and almonds on the palate.

Deployment Special Edition: Smoked Salmon Sunday Brunch at the FOB

Team member Tim Weiner, a gourmand after my own heart and a world-renowned Professor of Pediatric Surgery at UNC, had smoked salmon and capers sent over for Sunday brunch.  Note the longing in his eyes as he imagines having a flute of premium sparkling to go with his lox and cream cheese bagel.

This delectable tray shows the brunch menu (clockwise from top):  green grapes in that uncomfortable stage between fermenting and rotting; a biscuit with cherry preserves; the smoked salmon omelette; fresh grapefruit—a true blessing; and a second biscuit.

In a war zone, the simplest of treats from home can make a normal day feel special.  Take, for instance, a standard omelette from the dining facility at our Forward Operating Base on a Sunday morning, and add care package contents to include smoked salmon, capers, and black truffle salt and voilà!  You have a feast fit for a death-row inmate’s last meal.  If said inmate had access to wine to pair with said feast, then what should the inmate choose?

To balance the richness of the omelette toppings, a full-bodied sparkling rosé would brighten this Sunday brunch by an order of magnitude.  The premier spot for such a sparkling wine in Italy is Lombardia.  Here, the makers of Franciacorta use the metodo classico of producing their sparkling wines with a second fermentation in the bottle.  They likewise utilize the preferred grapes of the champenois, primarily chardonnay and pinot nero.  You will see the familiar designations to indicate the amount of sugar present from the dosage, going from most to none:  brut, extra brut, or brut zero (also seen variably as pas dosè or brut nature).  For the salmon, aim for the middle of the road with extra brut, or a brut if you prefer.

If you demand a red wine for your salmon omelette, consider a spätburgunder from Germany.  Known more commonly in France and the New World as pinot noir, spätburgunder from cooler climate areas such as Germany tends to exhibit less cherry fruit at the fore, with more pronounced minerality and spice elements coming into play.

Complementary Pairing:  Franciacorta Rosé, Lombardia, Italy

Try:  Cà del Bosco Cuvée Annamaria Clementi Rosé (Extra Brut)

[www.cadelbosco.com]  This is certainly one of the top producers of quality Franciacorta, and Annamaria Clementi is their tête de cuvée.  The rosé version is all pinot nero and comes from macerating the juice with the skins for a day and a half, before being transferred to cask for the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations.  It then spends seven years on the lees before dégorgement.

Contrasting Pairing:  Spätburgunder, Mosel, Germany

Try:  Markus Molitor Graacher Himmelreich Pinot Noir

[www.markusmolitor.com]  Just to keep things confusing, we have the traditional French name of the varietal on the label, but this is pure Mosel spätburgunder.  From slopes of iron-rich slate, the wine spends over a year in barrique to produce mineral undertones overlaid by cocoa and white pepper, with a bit of cherry on top for good measure.

MRE Menu 12: Spicy Penne Pasta

For this Italian dish with lots of kick, look no further than the table wine enjoyed by the local crowd throughout the Piemonte, made from dolcetto.  Offering a good balance between fruit, acidity, and tannins, wines from dolcetto range from simple mealtime quaffers to structured and elegant versions from low-yielding vines that are partly aged in barrique.  The production area approximates where you will find its more expensive siblings, Barolo and Barbaresco, in the communes surrounding Alba and Asti.  Don’t mistake the sweet fruit flavors for significant residual sugar, but that same sensation will balance the spice of the pasta sauce.

Remaining in Italy for a white wine, travel east and north from the Piemonte to Alto Adige, or Südtirol as the local, ethnically Austrian population would prefer you call it.  Here, the town of Tramin offers its name to the grape variety know variously as traminer or gewürztraminer, regardless of where it may have actually originated.  As the name suggests (“würz” is the German word for “spice”), you should expect various baking spices on the nose and the palate.  Although it can be completely fermented to dryness, an off-dry version will be more effective at cleansing your palate of the red pepper elements accompanying this MRE.

Complementary Pairing:  Dolcetto, Piemonte, Italy

Try:  Poderi Luigi Einaudi Dogliani Superiore ‘Vigna Tecc’

[www.poderieinaudi.com]  This is a more complex expression of dolcetto that restrains the use of wood during aging to preserve its concentrated black fruits.  From older vines planted 30 to 75 years ago on the southerly slopes of Madonna della Grazie and San Giacomo in Dogliani, the wine will taste just as dark and rich as it appears in the glass.

Contrasting Pairing:  Gewürztraminer, Südtirol, Italy

Try:  Cantina Tramin Nussbaumer Gewürztraminer

[www.cantinatramin.it]  The cooperative in Tramin represents 280 growers, and the gewürztraminer for this wine comes from their vineyards on the slopes around the village of Sella at a height of 350 to 550 meters (1150 to 1800 feet).  Appreciate the intense aromatics that are characteristic of this varietal, while the bit of residual sugar helps to put out the fire of your spicy pasta.

The actual reason for the author being in Afghanistan—providing anesthetic care to combat casualties.  Difficult to discern from the photo is the division of attention:  99% focused on monitoring the patient, 1% still thinking about sharing a nice bottle of wine with his wife.

MRE Menu 11: Vegetable Lasagna

This MRE presents a panoply of flavors without any one specific note (or apparent use of seasoning) that commands an exacting pairing.  In this instance, the sangiovese-based wines of Chianti in central Tuscany should stand beside it nicely.  These wines come in a range from those marked Chianti, to a more geographically restricted Classico designation, and finally a parallel world of the “other” Super Tuscans.  The latter are not the cuvées of Bordeaux varietals from the west coast.  These came about in the days when the Chianti disciplinare did not allow for 100% sangiovese wines, and actually mandated the blending of white grapes.  A few visionary producers believed in the potential of sangiovese in purezza as the basis for making world-class wines, combining careful management in the vineyards with exacting work in the cellars.  These were initially labeled as Vino da Tavola (VdT), or table wines, and eventually they were allowed to use the newer designation of Indicazione Geographica Tipica (IGT).  Although now Chianti can now legally be made entirely from sangiovese, many of these vanguard producers chose to retain the IGT designation and their chosen proprietary names.  For the vegetable lasagna in particular, choose one of these wines with some wood treatment and bottle age, so that the acidity subsides and the sour cherry turns dark, with the addition of leather and tar elements.

For the contrasting pairing, let us turn to chardonnay, a white grape that is far more widely planted worldwide than the sangiovese above.  The key is finding a chardonnay with sufficient structure to match the richness of the pasta dish.  For that we can head to the Margaret River region of Western Australia.  Located on a cape with the ocean on three sides, sea breezes moderate the temperature extremes of this area, and gravelly soils over clay enhance the potential for quality viticulture.  There are many artisanal producers here, the best of which tend to be clustered around Wilyabrup and Wallcliffe.

Complementary Pairing:  Sangiovese in purezza (Chianti Classico Riserva or IGT “Super Tuscan”), Toscana, Italy

Try:  Isole e Olena Cepparello, Barberino Val d’Elsa

Paolo and Marta de Marchi were among the pioneers of producing pure sangiovese wines, and Cepparello is their flagship.  The restrained use of new oak in the cellar supports the sangiovese instead of overwhelming it.  This estate continues to set the benchmark for quality production in this region.

Contrasting Pairing:  Chardonnay, Margaret River, Australia

Try:  Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay

[www.vassefelix.com.au]  Based in Wilyabrup, they select the finest chardonnay parcels which age in French barriques, about 2/3 of which are new.  Fermentation is with natural yeast, and the wine rests on its lees for 9 months with no intention for malolactic fermentation.  Look for notes of flint and white stone fruits.

MRE Menu 9: Beef Stew

Beef stew might strongly suggest to some a merlot-dominated Bordeaux from the right bank of the Gironde or Dordogne, but let’s explore that same variety with an Italian twist.  While “Super Tuscan” can mean a number of different things, in this case it refers to the planting of the traditional Bordeaux varietals primarily on the west coast, an area known as the Maremma.  The epicenter for the oldest estates producing the most sought after local expressions of these French grapes is Bolgheri.

For a contrasting pairing with a white wine, I recommend something that many probably don’t even think of in the context of whites—Sherry.  From southern Spain in the areas of Jerez and Sanlúcar, white grapes are used to make a number of different styles that have enormous versatility in pairing with food.  For the delectable beef stew MRE, choose a full-bodied oloroso, which is the product of the second pressing of the must that will subsequently undergo oxidative aging.  Because you deserve it, treat yourself to a VOS (Vinum Optimum Signatum or Very Old Sherry).

Both of the specific recommendations below are a bit on the expensive side.  However, there’s a good chance that the reason you’re eating MREs in the first place is due to some apocalyptic event, so why keep the good stuff in your cellar for the dominion of the cockroaches?  Better yet, determine which of your neighbors has the best wine cellar so you can turn your attention there first when the looting and anarchy begin.

Complementary Pairing:  Bolgheri Merlot, Toscana, Italy

Try:  Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Masseto

[www.masseto.net]  Having passed through several famous hands in the wine world with names like Antinori and Mondavi, the Tenuta dell’Ornellaia is now owned by the Frescobaldi family.  Masseto is a monovarietal merlot from the vineyard of the same name planted in 1984.  Each plot ages separately for a year in barrique of medium toast before being blended and returned to barrique for a year’s undisturbed rest prior to bottling.

Contrasting Pairing:  Oloroso Sherry, Jerez, Spain

Try:  Valdespino Don Gonzalvo Oloroso VOS

[www. grupoestevez.es]  Having completed over 700 years with the Valdespino family, these precious soleras are now in the hands of local resident José Estevez.  There will be a hint of sweetness here, but the predominant sensation will be rich walnut and toffee notes with a suggestion of mocha before entering a lengthy finish.  Enjoy the relatively high alcohol content of the oloroso style as a means to forget the poor excuse for beef stew from your MRE.

MRE Menu 8: Meatballs with Marinara Sauce

A wine of suitable structure to match these meatballs can be found in central Umbria, around Montefalco.  Here, the sagrantino grape reigns, and the larger wine world is just beginning to realize that exceptional reds with remarkably high polyphenol content and robust tannins come from this special place.  The disciplinare calls for aging in wood to soften those tannins and integrate them with the predominantly black fruits.

The marinara sauce compels me to remain in Italy for a suitable contrasting pairing with the robust yet humble meatball.  A white wine of sufficient body can be a tough bill to fill, but it is waiting for us farther to the north in the Soave area of the Veneto.  Whites in this area are made from garganega, and can be somewhat nondescript when they come from the open plains, but reach their pinnacle in the hills of the Classico zone.  For added body to match the richness of the meat and sauce, go with the Recioto version, which utilizes the appassimento method to dry and concentrate the grapes before vinification.  For an extra twist, find one of the elusive sparkling versions of this Recioto to cleanse your palate as you feast on this MRE.

Complementary Pairing:  Sagrantino di Montefalco, Umbria, Italy

Try:  Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino Secco ‘Pagliare’

[www.paolobea.com]  Unlike other producers in Montefalco seeking international critical acclaim and high scores by using lots of new French oak barriques, this family-run winery ages their sagrantino first in steel and then in the traditional large Slavonian oak botte, before bottling it unfiltered.  The family uses meticulous care in the organically farmed vineyards and over 500 years of experience in Montefalco to allow the terroir to ably speak for itself without the need for interventionalist winemaking.

Contrasting Pairing:  Recioto di Soave spumante, Veneto, Italy

Try:  Coffele Recioto di Soave Spumante

[www.coffele.it]  The Recioto versions of Soave typically have some degree of sweetness, but here you won’t notice the residual sugar due to the balancing acidity and sparkling mouthfeel.  Expect a bouquet of cherry blossoms, with brioche on the mid-palate and an almond finish from this family winery with a vineyard on southwest facing slopes in Castelcerino in the Classico zone. 

MRE Menu 7: Beef Brisket

At the sight of brisket, perhaps your first inclination is to uncork a malbec from Argentina.  Hold that thought, and instead go back to the Old World and the traditional home of malbec in the southwest of France, in Cahors, where it is known as auxerrois.  Don’t be fooled by the black color—these wines still have freshness and just a bit of palate-cleansing acidity to balance the black currant and truffle flavors.

Since I suggested such an inky black wine for a red pairing, I won’t go quite all the way to a white wine for contrast with the food.  Instead I’ll stop short at a rosé, but not just any rosé.  Imagine, in the southern part of the Champagne region, chalky hills that resemble those leading to remarkable expressions of chardonnay just a little farther north in the Côte des Blancs, but with pinot noir planted on these slopes instead.  This is not a sparkler as you might expect from the Aube.  These still wines are considered to be some of the most age-worthy examples of rosé, and perfect for this MRE that may have been sitting on the shelf just as long.

Complementary Pairing:  Cahors, Sud-Ouest, France

Try:  Château du Cèdre Cahors Le Cèdre

[www.chateauducedre.com]  You might think the hints of smoke are coming from your brisket, but after realizing it is devoid of flavor and aroma, you appreciate that the smoky notes are coming from this wine, followed by dark cherries and blueberries with a bit of cocoa sprinkled on top.  These flavors and the dark color come from malbec macerated for over a month with an assertive daily punching down of the cap, followed by up to 24 months of aging in mostly new wood.

Contrasting Pairing:  Rosé des Riceys, Champagne, France

Try:  Olivier Horiot Rosé des Riceys ‘En Valingrain’

[www.horiot.fr]  The darker color compared to a typical rosé from other regions comes from 5 to 7 days of maceration instead of the usual less than 24 hours.  The mineral undertones come from those steep chalk slopes.  The sense of satisfaction you’ll feel comes from knowing that you’re drinking one of the world’s great rosé wines with your brisket MRE while your friends are drinking pink-tinged plonk.

MRE Menu 6: Beef Roast with Vegetables

For harmony with the beef roast, we can travel to the northwest of Italy, where nebbiolo reigns supreme amongst the reds.  Rather than stopping in the communes in and around Barolo and Barbaresco, we’ll continue even farther north, almost to the edge of the Valle d’Aosta.  On the slopes in the area of Carema, the local version of nebbiolo known as picountener, takes a lighter form compared to the Alba expressions, exhibiting an elegant and perfumed side to this noble grape.

For contrast, attempting to pair a white wine with this rich beef dish is a challenge, so fortify yourself and explore the possibilities brought by Madeira.  For ready availability, you can’t beat a 5 to 15 year old Madeira from the white varietal boal (or bual in English).  Despite a bit of residual sugar, the balancing acidity turns that sugar into a perceived richness of the wine rather than a cloying sweetness.  For an even more unique experience, try terrantez, widely planted and much revered before phylloxera, but little replanted since.  Expect richness with a slightly bitter finish, to reflect your bitterness at eating beef from a foil pouch.

Complementary Pairing:  Nebbiolo, Piemonte, Italy

Try:  Ferrando Carema Etichetta Nera

[www.ferrandovini.it]  From steep hillside vineyards, this wine offers ripe red fruits with a bit of spice.  It is only produced in the best vintages, and represents the pinnacle of the tiny amount of production from this northwest corner of the Piemonte.

Contrasting Pairing:  Madeira, Portugal

Try:  Blandy Madeira Terrantez

[www.blandys.com]  This now rare grape is more likely only available by vintage year rather than in a blend.  Remember that the late 1970s Madeira you drink next year may still not be bottled yet!

Not the preparation for sniffing the bouquet of fine wines I would have hoped for.  Seen to the author’s left is the ‘poo pond,’ a common feature in and around many bases in Afghanistan.  This continuous olfactory assault may well render me incapable of someday passing the aromatic portion of the Master of Wine practical test.  I can only hope the government will consider that a war-related injury.

MRE Menu 5: Mediterranean Chicken

The name of the dish implies perhaps a more robust array of flavors and seasonings than is actually present in this poor piece of poultry, so the door to effective pairings is fairly wide open.  Why not add the faintest hint of citrus to your chicken with an aligoté from Burgundy?  While on the decline in acres planted due to a perceived lack of quality when yields aren’t properly managed, a few dedicated producers soldier on and attempt to return this once widespread varietal in the Côte d’Or to its former pre-phylloxera status.

For those of the school that a medium to full-bodied red is the perfect companion for any food short of lemon pound cake, consider a tinto from the Dão in Portugal.  Using similar varietals as their more famous neighbors in the Duoro who make both Porto and dry table wines, these reds offer broad possibilities for pairing with food, due to a diversity of mono-varietals and blends as well as fermentation and aging regimes.

Complementary Pairing:  Bourgogne Aligoté, France

Try:  Domaine Ponsot Morey-St-Denis Premier Cru Clos des Monts Luisants

[www.domaine-ponsot.com]  Formerly blended with some chardonnay, this is now 100% aligoté since the 2007 vintage, from vines planted almost a century ago.  You can be assured of quality not only from this domaine’s fine reputation, but also because this is the only Côte d’Or producer and appellation permitted to use aligoté in a 1er Cru blanc.

Contrasting Pairing:  Tinto, Dão, Portugal

Try:  Quinta dos Carvalhais Reserva Tinto

[www.quintadoscarvalhais.eu]  This blend is carefully selected and aged for a year in an almost even split of new and used French barriques.  Anticipate violet and balsamic aromas coupled with dark plum fruits and balancing acidity on the long finish.

MRE Menu 4: Pork Sausage with Gravy

As one of the few MREs containing a pseudo-breakfast, this meal practically demands being treated like brunch, complete with outdoor dining and a flute of your favorite sparkling wine.  I will ride the wave of enthusiasm from the London Olympics and jump on the bandwagon with the professional wine press to recommend an English sparkler here.  Made with the same varietals and traditional methods as the areas across the Channel surrounding Reims and Epernay, these sparkling wines are often bottled by individual vintage year in lieu of attempting to create a consistent multi-vintage “house style.”

For a contrast, go to Spain and head to the west of Rioja toward Galicia, and find yourself in Bierzo.  Quality production of fine wines may be a recent trend here, but fortunately the mencía vines themselves are decades old, with some having passed the century mark.  An undercurrent of minerality supports powerful red fruits with balanced acidity and a hint of balsamic.

Complementary Pairing:  English Sparkling Wine, UK

Try:  Gusbourne Brut Reserve, Kent, UK

[www.gusbourne.com]  This cuvée blends the three traditional varieties of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier, a small portion of which is vinified in oak.  Contact with the lees for almost two years or more adds complexity and body to the presentation of stone fruits and precise acidity.

Contrasting Pairing:  Mencía, Bierzo, Spain

Try:  Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas

[www.dominiodetares.com]  As the name of the wine implies, these are old vines, more than 60 years old to be specific.  The mencía from these vineyards will experience a severe triage prior to fermentation and aging in both new and old barrels from various sources.  Expect concentrated red fruits and just enough acidity to nicely slice through the fat in the pork sausage.