Fried chicken may be traditionally paired with iced sweet tea, lemonade or beer but it can go with wine like any other self-respecting food.
Just sounds kinda funny, doesn’t it?
Certainly, it took a few moments for J.R.Williams to get his mind wrapped around the idea.
“Whoa, that’s deep, that’s really deep,” said Williams, operations manager for Harold’s Chicken Shack, makers of the best fried chicken in the Chicago area, according to a team of Chicago Tribune tasters. “I could probably come up with a wine but fried chicken is, like, country based, man . . . I think it would be a cold beer thing.”
Williams said no one has ever asked him what wine pairs best with fried chicken. He wasn’t quite sure what would work. But other Chicagoans certainly had opinions–and a variety of wine options.
“What a great question,” exclaimed Drew Goss, co-owner of West Town Tavern. His wife, chef Susan Goss, enjoys making fried chicken, cooking it up in a cast-iron skillet, he said.
“Boy, last time I had a good wine with fried chicken I had a viognier,” Drew Goss said, adding that he chose a French bottling for its honeysuckle flavors and good acidity instead of a Californian version which can be more floral and “sticky.”
“You need good acidity to cut through that fat,” he noted.
Balance is a key point. For not only does the chicken absorb a bit of the frying oil along the way, but the bird, especially the dark meat pieces, have a richness that can almost seem buttery. A high acid wine acts like a spritz of lemon juice, cleaning the palate and making the chicken seem tastier, brighter.
Other choices? Goss suggested a crisp sauvignon blanc like a French Sancerre, or a Portuguese Vinho Verde. Both are whites with a lively freshness.
Larry Kaplan of The Wine Cellar in Palatine thinks a rose would work.
“This takes some self-confidence for most because everyone that sees pink thinks sweet,” he said. “There are many dry and off-dry roses that would be perfect.”
As for reds, Goss goes with Spanish, either a garnacha(also known as grenache) or a tempranillo. You might want to cool the tempranillo down with a spell in the refrigerator, he said.
Kaplan also picked a Spanish red, a blend of garnacha, syrah and mourvedre from Can Blau.
“What it offers is a rich fruit palate, but a good bit of acidity to balance the fat of the fry.”
Don’t forget sparkling wines. The dry, citrusy flavor and effervescent bubbles are great with any foods that are fried. And sparking wine can add a certain luxe touch, as master sommelier Alpana Singh writes in her upcoming book, “Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine & Having Great Relationships.”
“A few years ago I attended a backyard summer party featuring nothing but fried chicken and Champagne. I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” she writes. “There was fried chicken as far as the eye could see and a kiddy pool was filled with ice and a seemingly endless supply of Champagne. Everyone had a piece of fried chicken in one hand and a glass of bubbly in the other.”
For Singh, the experience was “pure unadulterated decadence.”
And, really, isn’t that what fried chicken is all about? Crispy, juicy and headily aromatic from hot oil, fried chicken exemplifies how a humble product can be elevated into an art form, an iconic symbol. Come to think of it, much the same could be said for the lowly grape.
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American red for an American bird
Few dishes are as all-American as fried chicken, so it is appropriate our top wine match is an American red from Oregon. A variety of wines, white, red and rose, still and sparkling, were sampled in this informal blind tasting. The chicken served up with the wine came from the deli department at Dominick’s, 255 E. Grand Ave. It was mildly flavored and generally crispy. The scores reflect how well the wine paired with the chicken.
2003 King Estate Pinot Noir Signature Collection
A strong contender on its own with lovely cherry, tobacco and smoke notes, the wine tasted even better with the chicken. The fruit flavor accentuated the hint of salt and spice in the crust. $20 (3 corkscrews)
2004 Nora Albarino
This Spanish white had a green apple and lime sass that was accentuated by the chicken. $13 (3 corkscrews)
2004 Lorgeril Viognier de Pennautier
From southern France, this wine from viognier grapes had a bracing crispness. The clean lines of the wine enhanced the chicken. $9 (3 corkscrews)
2003 Las Rocas Vinas Viejas Garnacha
This red from Spain’s Calatayud region was rife with earth, leather and smoke notes with a burst of green pepper on the finish. Really fine on its own, the wine lost some of its panache next to the chicken. $17 (2 corkscrews)
2004 Coppola Sofia Blanc de Blancs
There were plenty of floral notes to this California sparkling wine. Perhaps too many. The soft, slightly sweet flavor emphasized the salt in the chicken. The pairing never hit it off. $17 (2 corkscrews)
2005 Etude Rose Carneros
Made from pinot noir grapes, this California rose seemed like a good idea with its dry profile and lovely pink color. But the wine was too subtle to work with the chicken. $20 (2 corkscrews)
Sources: We found these wines at Sam’s Wines & Spirits, Binny’s Beverage Depot stores, SavWay Fine Wines & Spirits stores, Treasure Island Foods, Schaefer’s in Skokie, The Wine Cellar in Palatine, Wine Knows in Grayslake, Vintages Fine Wines in Arlington Heights, Hinsdale Wine Shop. Not every wine may be in stock at your local stores; prices may vary from store to store. Prices are rounded off.
(4 corkscrews): excellent
(3 corkscrews): very good
(2 corkscrews): good
(1 corkscrew): fair
(no corkscrews: poor)
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wdaley@tribune.com
Bill Daley answers questions on wine, beer and spirits every Sunday in Q. Hear him on WBBM Newsradio 780 at 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. each Tuesday and 7:52 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
