When asking about dishes considered unsuitable--or at least unusual--for wine, the experts generally push me toward something fruity and acidic.
Makes sense, really: these are the two elements most capable of battling excess salt, wallowing fat and other banes of wine pairing. So when I approached the woman at Majestic on Oak Lawn looking for something to go with orange chicken from a bag picked out of a Tom Thumb frozen food aisle, she almost immediately (after the raised eyebrow and the "how much do you want to spend?" question) escorted me to a sale rack of Sauvignon Blanc.
Ventisquero Reserva 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is, clearly, a young Chilean
product bottled for immediate consumption. The wine is clean and easy,
with a lot of fresh pineapple up front and some whispers of mango--all
of which disappears quickly. Orange chicken in a bag is, well, along
with the pyramids, Apollo 11 and the '67-'68 St. Louis Cardinals, one
of humankind's greatest inventions.
From a guy's point of view, anyway. I mean, just dump stuff from a bag
into a pan, squeeze the diaper contents that become sauce over it,
microwave some rice--it feels like cooking, without all the mess. And
it's at least the equivalent, in quality, of most Chinese delivery.
For pairing wine, however, one must keep in mind the dull, artificial
nature of "orange" flavor and the impressive sodium content.
Hence the Sauvignon Blanc. Wine and 'stir-fried' orange chicken in this
case co-exist as equals, interacting, but refusing to threaten each
other's place in the world. The wine becomes juicier and the sensation
of tropical fruit develops a little more, perhaps due to the
diaper-brown sauce.
But there's not much else to report. The interplay between food and
wine remains at this basic, separate but equal level. So I could this
pairing as a success. There's no damage, either way. And for less than
$20, you've had a full meal and drinkable bottle.
