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Midwest Home /  December 2006 /  Sparkling Partners

Sparkling Partners

Think past New Year's Eve for versatile bubblies that pair well with food

Last year around the holidays, longtime W.A. Frost general manager Robert Crew took a gamble on sparkling wine. He had no reason to believe he would win. The drink was never a big seller at the restaurant, and offering it by the glass is tricky, since anything but brisk sales leave bubbles—and profits—to fizzle. On a whim, he introduced the restaurant’s first sparkling wine tasting flight, a carefully matched trio: a Spanish Cava, an Italian Prosecco, and the reliable standby, French Champagne. It was a hit.

So big a hit, in fact, that the flight became a menu mainstay. “It’s been amazingly successful. I don’t have to worry about quality at all,” Crew says. “People are drinking sparkling at the beginning, middle, and end of the meal. With cheese. With dessert. I guess it was just the right time. People are experimenting with wine.”

Cheers to that. Americans’ wine consumption has increased steadily since the early 1990s, according to the Wine Institute, an industry group. Although sparkling wine constitutes just a sliver of overall wine sales, that sliver, too, is growing. As consumers tip more flutes, they also are learning that champagne isn’t the only wine gifted with those charming CO2 bubbles.

Those bubbles come from a second fermentation, discovered in the wines coming out of France’s Champagne region more than 300 years ago—though it was the British that first created glass and corks strong enough to keep the fizz inside. That, along with an aggressive marketing campaign by the French, is why sparkling wine is, too often, synonymous with Champagne. Any wine can sparkle, really, and plenty of winemakers in all parts of the world have purposefully generated fermentation number two to create admirable and accessible bubblies of all colors. The bubbly California rosés and a sparkling Australian shiraz paired with our recipes are fine examples of this, as are the Prosecco and Spanish Cava on Frost’s list.

Michael Wirzylo, wine consultant at Surdyk’s Liquor Store and Cheese Shop, calls sparkling one of the most versatile and food-friendly of the wine categories. “The image is one of weddings and celebrations, but it’s so much more than that,” he says.

Wirzylo is bent on expanding that image. “They’re transparent, clean and lively, with a mouth-watering acidity that brings you to the next bite of food,” he says. “Sparkling wines pair well with everything from the most delicate seafood to the most elaborately spicy Indian and Thai food.”

As with any wine-food match-up, it’s all about balance. Rich or savory foods, such as W.A. Frost’s ahi tuna tartare (see recipes), generally pair well with drier wines. Spicier foods, such as Surdyk’s Thai Chicken Salad (see recipes), work better with sweeter wines. Keep preparation in mind, too. Even though meat is not generally an easy match with sparklings, for example, Frost executive chef Russell Klein contributed a pork recipe whose cherry compote makes it a surprisingly good pairing with a dry sparkling (see recipes).

The key, Crew says, is not to get too hung up on what’s right or wrong. With the variety of styles, flavor profiles, and quality levels available among the bubblies, there’s no single perfect food-sparkler match. And since America’s newfound wine fetish also brought us an abundance of wine bars and shops, plenty of experts like Wirzylo and his colleagues are at your disposal, more than willing to help guide your exploration. And isn’t time found to open a bottle among friends enough of a reason to celebrate any day of the year?

Berit Thorkelson is a St. Paul writer and editor.

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Recipes

Provided by Russell Klein, executive chef, W. A. Frost & Company

Ahi Tuna Tartare

This elegant appetizer goes well with something crisp and extra dry, such as a French rosé brut.
Serves 4

GARLIC-MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE

¼ c. Worcestershire sauce
¼ c. champagne vinegar
3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. roasted garlic puree
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. canola oil
½ c. olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients except oils. Drizzle in the oils to form an emulsion. Adjust seasonings and transfer to an airtight bottle.

Tuna Tartare

12 oz. tuna, cut into ¼-inch cubes
4 tsp. nonpareil capers, rough chopped
4 tsp. shallots, minced
4 Tbsp. garlic-mustard vinaigrette
4 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Mix the tuna with all ingredients. Season to taste.

Horseradish Panna Cotta

1 c. milk
½ c. cream
½ c. sour cream
3 tsp. wasabi oil
3 sheets gelatin
salt and pepper, to taste

Soak the gelatin in cold water until it is bloomed and completely soft. Combine remaining ingredients. Remove gelatin from water and squeeze out any excess water. Place gelatin and ¼ cup of the cream mixture in a sauce pot and heat gently until completely melted. Do not allow it to boil! Stir in remaining cream mixture and pour into four 2-ounce aluminum ramekins. Refrigerate until set.

Place 3 ounces of tuna neatly on one side of a plate and a single panna cotta on the other. Serve with toasted brioche triangles and gaufrette potato chips.

Smoked Fish Salad

Pair this with something light and dry, such as a blanc de blanc from California.
Serves 4

Fish Dressing

½ c. crème fraîche
4 tsp. tarragon, minced
1 clove garlic, pasted
2 tsp. prepared horseradish
1 tsp. champagne vinegar

Mix all ingredients. Set aside.

Grapefruit Vinaigrette

4 c. grapefruit juice, fresh squeezed
¼ c. red onion, minced
2 Tbsp. capers, chopped
1 Tbsp. cornichons (pickled gherkin cucumbers), chopped
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. grainy mustard
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 c. olive oil

Reduce the grapefruit juice by half over medium-high heat. Strain and cool. When reduced juice is cold, mix in the remaining ingredients except oil. Whisk in the oil to form an emulsion. Season to taste and transfer to an airtight bottle.

4 oz. smoked salmon
4 oz. smoked black cod (sable)
4 oz. smoked whitefish
8 oz. frisée greens
16 Texas Ruby Red grapefruit segments
½ c. grapefruit vinaigrette
½ c. fish dressing

Cut all of the fish into ½-inch cubes, removing any blood line. Mix in fish dressing. Dress the frisée with 1 Tbsp. of the grapefruit vinaigrette and place in middle of a plate. Top with 4 grapefruit segments, then spoon on the fish. Drizzle the remaining grapefruit vinaigrette around the plate.

Grilled Pork Tenderloinwith Cherry Compote

Try this with a California brut rosé.
Serves 4

6 oz. cherries, pitted
1 Tbsp. sugar
¼ c. cherry juice
½ Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. reduced balsamic vinegar
¼ c. port
2 lbs. pork tenderloin

Place the sugar in a cold saucepan and cook until caramelized and dark golden brown. Add the cherry juice and reduce until syrupy. Add the cherries and port. Continue reducing until syrupy again. Remove from heat. Swirl in butter and balsamic vinegar.

Grill the pork tenderloin to medium doneness. Allow to rest, then top with warm cherry compote and serve.
Cranberry-Champagne Phyllo Flowers

Light and dry are the watchwords for a sparkling partner to this dessert. Try an Italian Prosecco, for example.

1 lb. package phyllo dough
¼ lb. butter, clarified
sugar, as needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay one sheet of phyllo dough on a table. Brush with clarified butter and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Lay another sheet of phyllo on top and repeat the process until you have three layers of phyllo. Cut the phyllo into 4-inch squares. Mold the phyllo into cups around a sturdy glass and place phyllo and glass into a muffin tin. Bake until golden brown and crispy. Allow to cool completely.

Cranberry-Champagne Compote

1 lb. cranberries
½ c. water
¾ c. sugar
¼ c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
¼ c. sparkling wine
cinnamon-flavored whipped cream

Mix all ingredients except wine in a non-reactive saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries begin to “pop.” Remove from the heat, cool for five minutes and stir in the champagne. Chill.

Spoon cranberry-champagne compote into the phyllo “flowers.” Before serving, top with cinnamon-flavored whipped cream.


Provided by Mary Richter, chef and manager of Surdyk’s Liquor Store and Cheese Shop

Thai Chicken Salad

This light but spicy dish can be served as a main course. Pair it with a sweeter sparkler, such as a rosé Cava.
Serves 4 to 6

1 lb. cooked chicken breast, julienned
1½ lb. Napa cabbage, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 green or yellow bell pepper, julienned
1 bunch green onions, sliced in long, thin strips
½ lb. carrots, julienned
1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

Thai Chicken Salad Dressing

½ c. rice wine vinegar
½ c. sugar
1 to 2 tsp. red pepper flakes
¼ c. fish sauce
chili paste, to taste

Combine sugar and vinegar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Add red-pepper flakes, fish sauce, and chili paste. Cool.

When ready to serve salad, toss with all or part of the dressing.

Sparkling Wine & Cheese Pairings

Provided by Bill McCleary, certified sommelier and wine consultant at Surdyk’s Liquor Store and Cheese Shop

• French triple cream Delice de Bourgogne with Sharffenberger Brut from Anderson Valley, California: The rich and creamy cheese offsets a dry and crisp sparkler.

• Spanish manchego with Spanish Freixenet Cava Extra Dry. This more mature and aromatic cheese needs a sparkler with soft and subtle sweetness.

• Rogue Blue from Oregon with Australian sparkling shiraz such as McGuigan. The deeper, berry flavors of this playful wine balance the cheese’s pungent flavor.

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