The Acid Test — Sauvignon Blanc
by Randal Caparoso

Comparing Sauvignon Blanc with Riesling
Although I do not fear low acid wines for food, there’s a lot to be said for crisply balanced, elevated acidity of varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.

In the fall of 1992, I invited Peter Merriman, one of the founders of the Hawaiian Regional Cuisine movement, to prepare a meal for me in his style. Whether he’s aware of it or not, Peter’s palate tends to veer on the acidic side. So his style of cooking was just the thing I was looking for:

• Quesadilla of Puna goat cheese, Kahuku shrimp & roasted macadamia nuts
• Fresh Sharwell avocado, pomelo & orange salad with watercress & arugula in fresh lime with honey
• Sesame crusted onaga (Hawaiian ruby snapper) with papaya relish, spicy mango sauce & organic Big Island greens

And the two wines I selected to match:

• Bonny Doon (left), “Pacific Rim” Riesling (California)
• Cloudy Bay (right), Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)

Although the possibilities offered by the unusually dry yet flowery, fruity qualities of Bonny Doon’s new-wave style Riesling (from grapes grown in Washington St. and Germany’s Mosel) are intriguing, experience and instinct told me that the higher acid wine, the powerfully aromatic Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc – from one of the world’s coldest climate growing regions – might prove to be the more natural partner for these acid-driven dishes.

What I didn’t predict, however, was how well both wines would do what they’re supposed to do, which is make a dish taste better than it would without wine. A classic example of how this works is French goat cheese (Chevre) matched with Loire River style Sauvignon Blancs (such as Sancerre). Sharing common qualities of sharp acidity and somewhat earthy grassiness, Chevre and Sancerre have long been considered one of the best, if not predictable, food and wine combinations in the world.
The goat cheese produced in the Big Island of Hawaii, however, is milder and less acidic than traditional Chevres of France. In the same fashion, the taste of Hawaii’s Kahuku-raised shrimp is somewhat milder than shrimp raised in most parts of the mainland United States.

So if it was just a mild dose of acidity and flavor that Merriman’s goat cheese and shrimp quesadilla needed, it certainly was found in the moderately crisp, fruity-scented Bonny Doon Riesling. But the exuberantly zested, melony, citrusy and grassy qualities of Cloudy Bay seemed to slice, dice and beg the palate to come back for bite after bite of shrimp and goat cheese in the quesadilla.

In the second course, the dominant factors were the buttery avocado, the pomelo’s plump, pink grapefruit taste, and the slightly bitter edge of the greens. With the lime infused vinaigrette acting as a conduit, the Riesling’s crisp, fragrant fruitiness did a neat job of balancing out the leafy, citrus taste of the salad. But again, it was the more intensely flavorful Cloudy Bay that added a more palate-freshening dimension to this tropical style dish.

With the onaga – a meltingly soft, mild and lush white Hawaiian fish – Merriman snuck in a Malaysian chili spice into the mango sauce, and so this sweet/spice interplay as well as the crunchy freshness of the green beans all seemed to benefit equally by the steely edge of the Riesling and the lavish, leafy greenery in the Sauvignon Blanc. These two wines, from two different grapes from different parts of the world, both make light, contemporary tropical island dishes even fresher and livelier to the taste.

Conclusions:
• Dishes utilizing vinaigrettes, citrusy (higher acid) fruits, chili spices, and slightly bitter edged mesclun and other greens could definitely benefit from higher acid varietals like Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc (and maybe to a lesser extent, medium acid varieties like Pinot Gris and Albarino).

• Although one may be conditioned to reach immediately for authentic Loire River grown Sancerre or Pouilly Fume when served a good Chevre, you can also find a good match in any number of the world’s newer, crisp acid styles of Sauvignon Blanc, such as those of New Zealand and the West Coast of the U.S. – especially when goat cheese is used as a component in a dish with other ingredients.

• Dishes utilizing tropical fruit as a component, or in a relish or sauce, do particularly well with more highly perfumed, tropical fruit toned varieties – beginning with exuberantly fruity Rieslings, and extending to the aromatic, fruit driven styles of Sauvignon Blancs from the New World.

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The Ideal Sauvignon Food Matches

• Sauvignon Blanc is a quintessential white wine calling for white meats (from fish and shellfish to chicken, pork or other white meats). Its typically crisp acidic edge and moderately medium weight does not lend itself to anything beyond that (it does not “cross over” into red meats).

• The crisp, lean taste profile of Sauvignon Blanc does not lend itself well to dishes containing disproportionate amounts of butter or cream (use only with balancing ingredients like lemon and capers, lest the wine turns unpleasantly sharp and the dish too fatty or oily).

• While the finest Sauvignon Blancs are replete with qualities of sweet melon (and sometimes citrus or fig), its propensity towards nuances of green herbs, cut grass or weeds in the aroma and flavor make it a natural with dishes utilizing leafy green herbs (parsley, basil, chervil, and cilantro), and to a more limited extent, the more strongly scented herbs (rosemary, thyme, marjoram and oregano).

• By the same token, herb nuanced Sauvignon Blancs do well with dishes utilizing bell peppers (especially when roasted), olives, fennel, spinach, watercress, arugula, and most green leaf salad vegetables.

• Restrained (n.b.) use of aromatically similar chili peppers (most varieties) as well as chili spices, pastes and curry mixes all stand to benefit from Sauvignon Blanc’s contrasting qualities of moderate alcohol, palate-freshening acidity, and suggestions of melon in the nose and flavor.

• Restrained use of lemon, citrus, pomegranate, tomatoes and other acidic fruits underscore Sauvignon Blanc’s zesty acidic qualities.

• Besides Chevre, other mildly acidic cheeses (Greek Feta, Le Banon from France, Cabrales from Spain, Pecorino from Italy, and extra sharp Cheddars) work well with Sauvignon Blanc.

• Feel free to grill or smoke, as this brings out the minerally or flinty qualities of Sauvignon Blanc (especially the French versions).

• While Sauvignon Blancs can certainly work well with richer, fattier white meats (lobster, pork, whole chicken, etc.) with the use of complimenting ingredients, its moderately weighted, crisp quality is more naturally suited to lower fat seafood or white meats (oysters, clams, flaky white fish, chicken breasts, veal, etc.).

• While Sauvignon Blanc is one of the few varieties that handily match mild vinegars (particularly winy balsamic, sherry and rice wine vinegars), these ingredients still need to be used in balance lest the match turns into an exercise in sourness (in the dish as well as wine).

• Since salt is more easily balanced by sweetness, don’t expect bone dry Sauvignon Blancs to work like a charm with highly salted or cured foods.

• For the same reason (the grape has tartness, but not sweetness), use pickled vegetables with caution.

• While Sauvignon Blanc is indeed a food versatile grape, it does not cross easily into the realm of Asian foods (use of ginger, star anise, shoyu, kaffir, ponzu, and disproportionate use of sugar, garlic, etc.). Better to leave that to more fragrant or aggressively spiced varieties (i.e. Riesling and maybe Viognier among whites, and Pinot Noir and Syrah among reds).

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© Randal Caparoso