Match of the week
Korean Bulgogi and Mencia
Given the overall punchiness of Korean food, you might think pairing it with red wine was a lost cause but as it’s often beef you’re dealing with, especially in a Korean barbecue restaurant, don’t let that put you off.
As part of my researches into wine pairings for Korean food I tried bulgogi twice last week, once at a London restaurant called Chung’dam and the other at an excellent local Bristol restaurant called Dongnae.
It’s a dish of thinly sliced meat marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and Asian pear then grilled on a tabletop burner or over a barbecue. So it’s deeply umami rather than hot but accompanied by sides and condiments including, typically, a soybean paste dipping sauce (ssamjang), raw garlic and chilli and kimchi and other pickles which you would think would be challenging.
Surprisingly the bulgogi marinade is powerful enough that they don’t throw the wine - in the case of Chung’dam a basic South African red from Journey’s End and at Dongnae an organic, low intervention 2022 Mencia from Bierzo in northern Spain called Quite from an impressively widely travelled woman winemaker called Veronica Ortega. It was definitely the more interesting wine of the two although the good news is that most full-bodied reds will go with bulgogi.
You can buy it from The Whisky Exchange online for £25.75 and from Cave in Bristol for £27.40
Roast turkey and Mencia
By now you might think I’d have explored all possible permutations with turkey but sommelier Jacob Kocemba was singing the praises of Mencia with turkey on Twitter the other day and as we had a magnum handy I thought I’d give it a try.
It was, admittedly a particularly good one - the Petalos Bierzo from Alvaro Palacios under the Descendientes de J Palacios label - in magnum which had more richness and depth than some younger mencias but stood up magnificently to the bird and all the trimmings - and to the cold turkey the following day. Majestic has the 2012/13 vintages on offer at a very competitive £13.86 a standard bottle at the moment if you buy any six bottles. It’s normally around £18.
Cecina (cured beef) and Mencia
Last week I was in Galicia (for three days. Without my suitcase. Thankyou Easyjet) visiting the denominations of Valdeorras and Bierzo where the star red grape is Mencia. (For years I got them confused periodically thinking the grape was Bierzo and the region Mencia but I’ve finally got it straight.)
Anyway Mencia is the most fabulously food-friendly wine, especially when it’s young and vibrant. More full-bodied (though less refined) than burgundy, riper than cabernet franc, to which it’s often likened the most helpful comparison I think is with Beaujolais which has a similar juiciness when young but can also be quite a weighty wine.
It’s particularly good with all things porky - and beefy, as I discovered from this pairing with some wonderful, home-cured, home-smoked thinly sliced beef called cecina* which was just insanely delicious. I now suffer from cecina withdrawal symptoms.
This particular combination was with Pittacum’s fresh, slightly funky (it’s organic) 2014 Petit Pittacum which is stocked by Les Caves de Pyrène at £9.10, L’Art du Vin at £11.40, and by Joseph Barnes at £11.66. A real match made in heaven. It would also be great for a barbecue.
* you can read more about cecina here
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