Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/744999
1 6 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | N o v - D e c 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m oto Asia at Disneyland last year. Again, California wines found a place in the program. Dingler isn't afraid to take some chances, and matches a bold Patz & Hall Char- donnay with the Toro Tartar, a raw tuna with a variety of sauces and condiments. "It's rewarding to have guests pleasantly surprised by the marriage of flavors and tex- tures," says Dingler. What I really appreciate about Dingler's approach to pairing wine with Asian cuisine is that he's will- ing to push his offerings where so many other sommeliers will play it safe and default to Riesling — though in Napa, that's not really an option. Dingler pairs En Route Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley) with Foie Gras Chawan Mushi, a Japa- nese egg custard. "It's quite pleas- ing to the senses," he says. "And one of the most life-changing and surprising pairings is a fruity and showy Zinfandel with soy sauce. Somehow the umami of soy and the brightness of the fruit turn out to be best friends. "For Japanese food, miso is a hard one. It has an umami qual- ity and saltiness to it. You need to make sure you don't bring more saltiness or any kind of metallic taste with a red wine. You have to play with lower pH red wine. If you try miso-glazed fish with a tannic wine, you'll find that the tannins just overload the palate. However, a soft and velvety tannin Cabernet will compromise and hug the dish rather than fight it to the ground," says Dingler. Dingler, a Mexican-born som- melier, says that, in Latin cuisine, salsas can be particularly hard to pair with wine: "Especially where there's an aggressive garlic aspect that can overpower it. In that case, the wine gets lost — it just gets crushed. Habanero and serrano peppers are also tough. Chiles in the meat call for more structure. I like Grüner Veltliner; its mineral- ity stands up to the challenge. And Alsatian Pinot Blanc can be a great choice." "We try to explore in our person- al time quite a bit, going to the taco truck and then bringing food back to try it with a couple of wines," says Dingler. "Cabernet Sauvignon is usually pretty friendly with Mexican food, unless the salsa gives it trou- ble. For ceviche, it's easy to match with Sauvignon Blanc from either New Zealand or Napa Valley." KEY CHOICES There are a couple of white wines that Dingler says he goes back to over and over again with both Asian and Latin flavors. One local example is Abraxas Vin de Terroir, an Alsace-style blend of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Riesling from Robert Sinskey Vine- yards. The other is straightfor- ward, affordable Grüner Veltliner, such as Laurenz and Sophie from Austria. He also notes that, sometimes, challenging pairings are the best way to go. "When pairing the tast- ing menu, I tend to look for inter- esting matches. Currently, we have a Salmon Brut from Chaumuzy, a grower-producer Champagne made of Pinot Meunier. Its high energy and wise structure makes it magi- cally pair with Wagyu beef. I'm also a big supporter of traditional pair- ings based on region, like a Tuscan wine with a wild boar stew. With sashimi, I try to match it with a crisp, dry and expressive sake," Dingler says. However, Dingler also notes that there's nothing wrong with giving people what they want. "That's something we always stress with our training. We have pairings avail- able that our staff can recommend; but if someone wants Chardonnay, they're going to get Chardonnay. If somebody shows up with a bottle of Opus One and they want to drink it with a $300 sashimi combo, you must make the dream come true. We're in the hospitality business, after all." If you take a good look at the wine lists at high-end Asian or Latin restaurants, you can see that, in most cases, they emphasize unoaked whites and, very often, Riesling. The wine list at Blind Tiger, a new Asian fusion joint in Oakland, feature mostly Napa and California wines with the venue's contempo- rary Pacific Rim cuisine, but wines share the stage with Japanese sake and a short beer selection. "It's an exciting challenge to find California wines to comple- ment the food menu," says Din- gler. "Wines like Hudson Vineyards Aleatico (a black muscat grape produced as a dry white wine), Hill Family Albarino and classic exam- ples like Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc rock my world. "With the global exposure aside from the U.S. locations, we get to experiment with classic and non- classic varieties like Chardonnay vs. Ribolla Gialla, established and new producers such as Antinori and Dreamstar, and dare our guests to get out of their comfort zone." At Morimoto's New York ramen r e s t a u r a n t , s a k e t a k e s c e n t e r stage, but there's also a small wine list. "I do have three wines there. It's fun to get people out of their shell when they go out for ramen. We have a Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Califor- nia, then a high-acid Pecorino from Italy," Dingler says. The group also opened Morim- Eduardo Dingler of Morimoto Restau- rants stretches the boundaries of pairing wine with Asian and Latin cuisine. MARKET WATCH TIM TEICHGRAEBER