Good Grape Wine Company

August 22 2007

Another Notch on the Belt

Ah, I was able to put another State Fair notch on the old belt.  You know the kind, the one that indicates it’s been loosened by a good measure.  Say what you will, but one of the highlights of my summer is an evening spent enjoying the twilight, humanity and a lot of fried food; a complete gorging on state fair food, the only time most reasonable souls, who normally eschew the “Roach Coach,” eat food prepared in cramped, sweaty conditions – mobile aluminum boxes—, comestibles prepared in boiling oil and moderately unsanitary conditions.

Makes you want think of wine, huh?  Um, not really.

The Indiana State Fair wrapped for another season this past Sunday and I spent a glorious Saturday night eating roasted corn on the cob, fried cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, corn dogs, elephant ears, ice cream, lemon shake-ups and a bunch of other stuff in a calorie binge the likes of which I’m not likely to see again, at least until Thanksgiving. 

I was racking my brain for decent wine/food pairing while I was inhaling a corn dog in two bites, but came up mostly empty—that is until we ventured through the agricultural buildings and saw our foodstuffs in a decidedly more natural state.

Nothing says nature like seeing the sheep barn.  And, some baby sheep, or lamb, were living in splendor for their city trek to Indianapolis for nine days. 

Ah, a rack of lamb.  Now we’re talking wine …

I’m not explicitely sure what the excerpted content laws are, but the American Lamb Board had the marketing machine in full effect at the fair with pamphlets and brochures aplenty—all designed to increase consumption of the wool-yielding friends in front of me.  The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil was cited as wine pairing resource numero uno for the American Lamb Board and, frankly, I learned something.  Lamb is a damn versatile pairing match to wines (light reds, of course, and also whites).

Since they excerpted from Karen MacNeil, I’ll do the same.  Did you know that lamb can be paired with:

Pinot Noir: Crown Roast of American Lamb with a cherry wine sauce

Zinfandel: Cumin-spiced lamb shanks

Syrah: Fennel crusted rack of lamb with roasted pepper and sultana raisin marmalade

Merlot/Bordeaux blend:  Roasted or grilled leg of lamb seasoned with rosemary

Cabernet: Lamb t-bones

Sauvignon Blanc: American lamb and goat cheese pizza with rosemary and sun dried tomatoes

Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio: Light pasta dish with American lamb, fresh vegetables and extra virgin olive oil

Chardonnay:  Lamb shoulder roast with roasted root vegetables

Riesling: Asian-inspired lamb stir-frys, Thai-inspired lamb salads, Moroccan lamb kebobs

Gewurtraminer: Curried lamb stew

That’s a pretty good covering of the wine varietal spectrum.  Now, if I can just get the fair to help me save about 4200 calories and start actually serving lamb – perhaps the Cumin-spiced lamb shanks with a glass of Zinfandel – I’d really be on to something. 

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