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What were we drinking? Part Yum.
The peanuts and curry sauces of Thai food don’t thrill me. I learned to just say no to any hot sauce that came with a liability waiver. No, it’s the cool not the heat that draws me. Especially the bright fruits and vinegars in green papaya salads and Thai yums, the cold dishes of meats and seafood tossed with lettuces, carrots, peppers and nuts. And lemongrass and galangal.
So there we were in our neighborhood branch of Jasmine Thai deciding on wine, The classic answer to Thai and other spicy dishes is Riesling, with a chilly touch of sweetness, hints of clove and cinnamon, to match and soften the heat.
But there was a great deal on a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Think $10). Chewing on my yum a few minutes later, I parsed the flavor I liked best, the green crunch of lemongrass, bracing with citrus and ginger. Lemon …grass. What wine would have similar flavors????????????
Lemony and grassy? Duh, that’s Sauvignon Blanc for sure. And In this bottle it was the 2007 Crossings from Marlborough. This is lively , full of citrus and plain fun at a bargain price. Not to mention that Robert Parker gave this little bottle 89. Maybe that was Bob with the Panang curry at the corner table?
Very yummy at $9.99 (and cheaper by the case at B-21).
It worked better than the usual Singha beer for me. Unless you can find a microbrewed wheat beer where lemongrass subs for hops as the bittering agent. That’s sweet, er sour, but they are rare.
Another option worth trying where available are the Thai wines of Monsoon Valley. Made 50 miles from Bangkok by a family that has explored tropical grape growing and wine making for generations. The grapes are familiar: Colombard, Shiraz and Muscat and exotic locals, Malaga Blanc and Pokdum in a range of reds and whites. They were bright clean fruity and spicy when I tried them at a wine show last year. Didn’t taste like pad Thai but I sensed cinnamon. Try ‘em when you see’em.
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