We had dinner with a group of old friends last night in Wynnewood, where our varied palates met a varied menu of Indian take out dishes from Tiffin that included everything from lamb to lentils in creamy and spicy sauces. What's the amateur home sommelier to do?
We knew we wanted to bring both a red and a white. For the white we chose Bearboat Sauvingon Blanc, thinking that it probably wouldn't taste like much and therefore wouldn't get in the way of anything and would be useful as an apertif. This turned out to be true, although it wasn't much of a crowd pleaser as we seemed to be the only ones drinking it.
But what to do for the red? We turned to Hello Vino, a free mobile wine pairing app that works on any smartphone. We used the menus to navigate to Indian, then checked under Lamb Curry. Hello Vino recommended Zinfandel, probably on the idea that Zinfandel's spicyness would match the spicyness in the food. Hello Vino even goes so far as to recommend particular producers, but they don't seem to have the PA Chairman's Selections loaded in the app. (You may be laughing at this, but wouldn't it be great...and why not?)
We chose Kenwood Zinfandel, currently on sale for $9.99 in the PA system. We've had Kenwood Chardonnay before and liked it, and we liked this Zin well. We enjoyed its peppery notes, which did pair well with the lamb. This one proved more popular than the Bearboat; it was gone before we could get a second glass--which also made us happy.
So cheers to old friends, and props to Hello Vino. We'll be testing it out again tonight on spinach lasagne.
Bearboat Sauvignon Blanc Alexander Valley 2007
Chairman's SelectionTM
Description from PLCB web site
PLCB Code: 13633
Size: 750ML
Price: $6.99
PAWineTalk
Kenwood Zinfandel Sonoma County 2007
Chairman's SelectionTM
Description from PLCB web site
PLCB Code: 13208
Size: 750ML
Price: $9.99
PAWineTalk
Check PAWineTalk maps for availability.
