Emergency Wine Recommendation Needed!

We are having seafood gumbo tonight for dinner and I need a wine recommendation! It's "real" roux-based gumbo. One recommendation was Oregon Pinor Noir.

Thanks,

Dave

I'm unsure of the ingredients in your dish, but one wine I've been enjoying with different seafoods (and especially the shelled varieties) is Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine, a French white wine which is both salty and tangy to my palate. It is really cleansing, and matches seafood extremely well. A good producer is Domaine de la Pepiere Clos des Briords (esp. the sur lie edition), but there are many good producers, and they won't break the bank. You should be able to find this at a good wine shop in the DC area. Let us know what you serve and how it goes. Jim

[Jenise]

Along the same lines as Jim's reccomendation, Bob and I had gumbo with three or four different wines by the glass in a New Orleans restaurant a few years ago. I don't recall brands or anything, but I do recall that the Chardonnay was AWFUL--the wine and soup both good on their own both tasted like mud, literally wet dirt, when tasted side by side. And an unwooded domestic sauvignon blanc was terrific, by far the best of the lot. We did not care for either of the reds with the gumbo, one of which was a Cotes du Rhone. No idea about the other, but I wouldn't have ordered a pinot noir for such a robust spicy dish. The fact that it has seafood in it and the rule that pinot noir normally goes well with pinot does not apply here. Gumbo is a big bodied, spicy food and neither of those or earthy gumbo file are likely to work any better than chardonnay did. If I needed to put out a red, I'd probably go big and clobber it with a zinfandel. But that's just me. If Chef Carey comes along, he might have some good red ideas for you--he is pretty exclusively a red wine drinker, and he's a New Orleans native. He, of all of us, is the most likely to have trial and errored his way to bliss.

My first thought was Pinot Gris from Alsace, but certainly a Sancerre type of SB or a Muscadet would be good, lighter alternatives.

Happy Holidays,

John

IMO muscadet would be waaay to light for such a rich dish. white bordeaux might work - one that blends the three varieties where SB does not dominate and oak is at a minimum. a dry rose might be good as well.

[James Roscoe]

Gewurtz would work it seems to me or a spatlese or auslese riesling. I might also try a gruner the trendy go to wine of the moment. If reds are wanted a zin or pinot would work well with the spices.Of course there is always sparkling wine. A cava or prosecco would fit the bill nicely and champagne goes with anything IMHO. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Sekt?

The last several of you are on the right track there I think. Yes, I have tried and tried with gumbo. I can't seem to make any of the wines I like so much work with it - as Jenise said, mostly reds for me. And, hell, I can drink reds with anything. The "fruitier" whites - with some acid -have done the best. Try chenin blanc, very cold. Cold beer works good.

Thanks for the advice. I ended up going with an Oregon Pinor Noir, Erath 2007. The wine was light and the tannins minimal and overall a pretty good wine. However, it was a bit light to go with the gumbo. A more hearty PN such as Saintsbury might have gone better. Fortunately, the gumbo wasn't that spicy so it worked out OK.

Here's hoping that Santa brings me the Bordeaux and Rhone that I put on my list (I think I've been nice).

Happy Holidays!

Dave

Strangely enough, I would go with something like a Vermentino. The Italian savoury dry style should offset the gumbo spicy. Not a dissimilar approach to the Bordeaux white but with just a tad more body. I would think a gewurzt would get lost. Too much going on. Alternatively I reckon the Paneta Cometa from Sicily would be fanastic. This is a superb wine. Full bodied enough to stand up to the gumbo but again savoury not fruity.

Thanks for the advice. I ended up going with an Oregon Pinor Noir, Erath 2007. The wine was light and the tannins minimal and overall a pretty good wine. However, it was a bit light to go with the gumbo. A more hearty PN such as Saintsbury might have gone better. Fortunately, the gumbo wasn't that spicy so it worked out OK.

Here's hoping that Santa brings me the Bordeaux and Rhone that I put on my list (I think I've been nice).

Happy Holidays!

Dave

I was, of course, thinking of a spicy gumbo. My daily quaff is Oregon pinot noirs.