Food and wine
What are the best food and wine pairing?
The best wine list and the best pairing is when wine and food are coming from the same area. Regional pairing is the first best match. This pairing is a whale scientific. Can everyone make a wine list? Only when he knows the cuisine roots he can present on the food menu.
Main tourist in our areas
We have tourist mainly from four countries Great Britain, Russia, Germany and France. The best wine list is the menu most recognizable for our clients. Alsace is a wine region with a long history and ownership between France and Germany. Russia also knew this area and it is one of the first on their market. English tourists are one of the most knowledgeable wine consumers of Alsace wines.
Alsace, France
The abundance and variety of the natural resources of this region have made it an area of great gastronomic importance for several centuries. Its fish and game are plentiful and well flavoured. Alsace gastronomic reputation owes much to the talent of its chefs. They have harmoniously blended the culinary tradition of eastern France, and its taste for pork products and pastries. Another influence is from Germany –beer, flour and cheery soup. And Jewish influence too, particularly in the use of spices and the preparation of fish.
Alsace cuisine
It was the Benedictine monks of past centuries who encouraged the breeding of pigs, whose quality now makes Alsatian charcuteries worthy of repute. Pork products are largely responsible for the renown of sauerkraut, which, cooked with Riesling and seasoned with a glass of Kirsch, is the Alsatian dish par excellence. Also well known are Schifela (shoulder of smoked pork), boudin (sausages), saveloy, Strasbourg sausages, Kalerei (pork cheese), ham (salted, smoked, in pate), and stuffed piglet “A la peau de goret”.
Meat dishes
Other stars are the goose, turkey and chicken. Goose as a special dish served in salmis or braised with potatoes, pate de foie gras with truffles rival those of southwestern France for their fine quality.
Turkey with chestnuts, chicken with Riesling, chicken with morel mushroom, and fricassee of chicken with cream next to these dishes Riesling and Gewürztraminer add acidity to balanced fatness of the food.
The vegetables
The main vegetable is, of course, the cabbage, which is the basis of sauerkraut and also served in salads. Equally good are red cabbage with chestnuts and kohlrabi with cream. Potatoes are ingredients for everyday cooking and also are used to make knepfles, noques, and pflutters.
Wine of Alsace
Climate, Soil and Geography
Alsace has a continental climate with dry, warm and sunny summers. The Vosges Mountains is geographical bounders which provide a series of the east-to-south facing bulges and folds in the valley-side to create very warm microclimates for grape-growing. The peaks of the mountains shelter the eastern slopes from the damp westerly winds and create a rain shadow over the vineyards. Soils are tremendous diversity.
Regions and Appellations
We have two main regions on the north Bas Rhin and the south Haut Rhin.
Appellations:
Alsace AOC -1962
Alsace Grand Cru AOC -1983
The main fact about Alsace:
*France and Germany “ownership”
*Intense, low alcohol, full-body dry white wines
*Wine label by the grape variety
Noble Varieties- Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris
Other varieties- Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Sylvaner, Chasselas, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Wine and Food pairing is the balance between the history of the food and the terroir of the wine. All the information about the regional cuisine and the specific wine production make our choice easy. Then if we have stuffed piglet or pate de foie gras we can easily pair with Alsace wines.
For more information about wine and food call, 00357/96393448 do not hesitate.
Gergana Nikolova
