Umami may not have the name recognition of sweet, sour, salty and bitter, but this so-called “fifth taste” gets equal play in the age-old challenge of food and wine pairing.
Japanese for “delicious,” umami (pronounced oo-MAH-mee) was discovered 99 years ago by a scientist curious to know why kombu seaweed broth tasted so good. His answer? Glutamate, an amino acid naturally found in many foods. In the 1990s, researchers at the University of Miami found separate taste receptors on the tongue for umami, confirming umami as its own unique sense.
With the growing awareness in the U.S. of the importance of pairing wines with food, there has been more attention paid to wine and umami. California’s Silverado Vineyards, for example, has a Web page devoted to umami — what it is, how it works, what it means for wine.
Umami is a sense of savoriness, one might almost say meatiness, found in certain foods. It’s not just a Japanese phenomenon; umami dishes can be found in all cultures. Foods naturally high in umami include many often paired with wines, ingredients such as tomatoes, mushrooms, shellfish, potatoes and cheeses. But, still, the rules of what goes with what in a umami sense aren’t exactly codified.
That’s what made a recent four-course umami wine dinner at West Town Tavern, 1329 W. Chicago Ave., so exciting. You weren’t quite sure what worked until you sat down and actually tried the food with the wine.
Drew Goss and his wife, chef Susan Goss, were definitely up for the adventure.
“In wine, there are always things you can’t quantify — when things work when you don’t expect them to,” said Drew Goss, the restaurant’s wine director. “Our dinners are more about the journey, not the destination. Do the wines work with dishes? Do the wines work for you?”
The couple tried more than a dozen wines and tinkered with the dishes to get the best possible match even if they weren’t quite sure about the why of it. Generally, though, they found that more mature wines seemed to complement foods high in umami.
“I think the wines that were really high in tannins didn’t work at all,” he noted. “Wines that were incredibly fruity and high in alcohol didn’t work.”
That’s because umami-rich food will suppress the umami effect in the wine, emphasizing the wine’s bitterness and astringency, said Tim Hanni, the Napa-based wine expert known as the “swami of umami.”
What can you do? Follow the Goss’ example and serve more wines with more complexity and a few years of bottle aging. The nuance works with umami foods.
And don’t forget to enjoy yourself while doing it.
“For us, the fun is the adventure of it,” Drew Goss said. “It’s not like we have all the answers and will present a white paper on it.”
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A choice of umami-friendly wines
West Town Tavern’s recent four-course umami dinner drew about 65 to 70 people. Here is the menu and the matching wines, plus some tasting notes:
Puff pastry pigs in blankets with grainy mustard
Segura Viudas Cava Brut Rose, a sparkling wine from Spain. The hors d’oeuvre had the right touch of mustard, which played off the bubbles of the cava.
Grilled portobello mushroom with sun-dried tomato tapenade and shaved Parmesan cheese
2002 Josmeyer Riesling Le Kottabe. The riesling was very aromatic, smelling of oil, washed stone and a hint of lime, matching the tapenade for intensity.
Lake trout with caramelized mushroom relish, crispy bacon, roasted cauliflower and leek mash
2003 Mahoney Vineyards Pinot Noir from the Carneros region of California. The wine’s nose was heady with notes of mushroom and bacon — so right for this dish. The subtle berry flavor with touches of earth and leather ably worked with the rich trout.
Roasted lamb loin with root vegetables and salsa verde
2004 The Colonial Estate Emigre, a Rhone-style red from Australia’s Barossa Valley. The wine was very fruit-forward, with just enough tannin to give it structure without becoming overbearing. The berry flavors highlighted the naturally sweet flavor of the root vegetables.
Berkshire blue cheese with roasted pears and walnut shortbread
Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry Solera Reserva San Emilio. The aroma and flavor were rich with raisins; the sherry’s satisfying syrupy sweetness carried it from the salty blue cheese to the plush roasted pear.
— B.D.
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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 8:52 a.m., 11:52 a.m., 3:41 p.m., 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Tuesdays and 7:52 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
