Sauerkraut recipe & wine pairing

Here's what happened- I am taking care of two bedridden Europeans right now: my husband, who is from Austria, and my dearest friend who is from Bulgaria. One has a back problem and the other has a pregnancy problem (you guess who is who) So the whole sauerkraut dish thang sounded very comforting for dinner tonight.

I followed your recipe, using duck fat, half sauerkraut in a jar (Bubbies brand) and a head of fresh cabbage, then everything else as prescribed. The meat: smoked pork ribs from a specialty shop up in Northern California and german-style sausages from the same joint. The wine for the recipe was a bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2003 which we had rejected a few days ago because it was just too "strawberry." I know, I know. Julia Child always said to never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink, but there you have it. I served some pierogies alongside.

I poured two wines with the hearty meal to compare:

I thought of the Panther Creek as I remembered it not being too much of a jammy Pinot, which I figured might bring out the juniper berry flavors in the kraut. The Chard was the heartiest I could grab and that is what was originally suggested.

I liked the Chardonnay with the meal. For me, the Pinot Noir pairing made the sauerkraut taste bitter. This surprised me, as i was quite sure I would prefer the red. The oaky, buttery notes in the Dehlinger highlighted what is best and most decadent about duck fat and sausage.

My Bulgarian friend opined hands down for the Pinot. This, she said, is most like what would be served at home in Sofia. When she was a child her grandmother would give her a small glass of red wine, watered down and sugared, to go with just such a meal. It should be noted that she, along with others, very much liked the dishes I cooked. You'll see why I mention it in just a minute.

My Viennese darling took one taste of the sauerkraut and said "Ooo! That's a new taste sensation." Meaning- this is not my mother's sauerkraut and sausage. And that's a bad bad bad thing. It was impossible after that to get any reasonable verdict on favored wine pairings. But being as he is bedridden, it was easy enough to take my bottles and leave him to think things over.

e.winemonger

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Em, could you kindly elucidate, please?

I have no idea what you are indicating was wrong with this wine.

Not wine, beer.

I have found with certain New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that the note of "strawberry" in the nose is so strong that it is almost like I am drinking strawberry wine. I'm not sure why I am so sensitive to it, or why that's such a bad thing for me, but there you have it. The Oyster Bay had this, as did a bottle of Gusto I opened recently. Nothing actually wrong with the wine, just really not to my taste. Perhaps the oddest thing is that I don't at all mind the blackcurrant bud (ok, cat pee) note that is predominant in other Sauvignon Blancs.

Makes me wonder what it is in the vinification that causes the same grape from the same region to have these two distinctly different notes?

e. _____

OB is not one of my favourite Marlborough SBs - it is one of the many positioning themselves in the middle-of-the-spectrum whereas I choose wines of interest, which "challenge"; thus it is years since I tried OB.

However, I am going to make a point of visiting the winery in the next couple of weeks (although Oyster Bay is grown and made in Marlborough, the parent company, Delegates Wines is in Auckland city, in an area I visit quite often.

I'll get back to you!

Exactly. I have been casting my net out to see where Sauvignon Blancs in this price range measure up, and have mostly come up short. The good news is that here in the States I should be able to present some really terrific Austrian SB's from the Styrian region which are far better for the price. We'll see. Meanwhile, I'd love some recs from you on both middles-to-compare and favorites-to-keep.

That would be amazing. I am really curious now.

-em ____________

The most difficult thing I face in recommending a wine is availability in the US.

NZs largest producer, with the widest distribution base is Allied Domecq thru their brands Brancott and Stoneleigh.

Both these are sort of "ho-hum" if you know what I mean - [IMNSHO of course]

There are literally dozens of other medium sized wineries in the middle range - labels such as Nobilo, Hunters, Morton, Giesen, Oyster Bay, Villa Maria (Private Bin) etc all producing that typical Marlborough style.

Then, there are lots of small producers - and of course, we do stumble upon availability issues - my favourites (in no particular order) Palliser Estate - Martinborough Wither Hills - Marlborough Matariki (Reserve) - Hawkes Bay Thornbury - Marlborough Isobel Estate - Marlborough Mount Nelson - Marlborough Lawson "Dry Hills" - Marlborough Forrest Estate - Marlborough. Villa Maria (Reserve) - Marlborough

Now, I am not the greatest advocate of cellaring NZ Sauvignon Blanc (or most NZ wines for that matter) for any extended period of time.

Yes, obviously they do keep, but aging mellows that zingy freshness - and the wines metamorphosise into something quite different five years down the track.

I have had an occasional Cabernet going back 20 years which has stood the test of time: I recently had what *was* an excellent Pinot Noir of the 1988 vintage which was thin and insipid after 15 years., whilst I have been grossly disappointed with so many 5 years old chardonnays.

NZ's better Rieslings *will* age very well, but as a generalisation, I would hesitate to cellar any NZ white for more than 4-5 years.

I am looking forward to revisiting Oyster Bay SB "03 this weekend. I must confess that I do not associate "strawberry" with sauvignon blanc! :-))

As I recently commented to Michael Pronay, we simply do not see *any* Austrian wines here in NZ. He has often commented that Australian SB is very, very good.

Our Australian contributor "Swooper" has also commented that he rates SB from Western Australia - again, they are rare as hens teeth.

^^^^^^^^^^

Oopps !!! I meant Austrian, of course!!!

Sorry Michael!

"st.helier" wrote in news:1095981936.142587@ftpsrv1: '

Nobilo and Villa Maria are widely available in the US.

On another note how is Kim Crawford Pinot Noir from Marlbourough?

"jcoulter" >

Medium weight, middle-of-the-spectrum wine, underwhelming fruity style, under a screw cap for local release.

There are better NZ PNs around - well, downunder anyhow.

According to what I've read, it is common practice in New Zealand to pick a portion of the Sauvignon Blanc crop early, the rest later, and combine the two fractions in the final cuvée. The "cat pee" overtones are likely due to the early harvested fraction of the fruit.

That said, there's plenty of room for variation on that theme. The SB you tasted may have contained little or no early fraction, so no cat pee - just ripe fruit.

Read the label for notes or e-mail the winery and ask.

Tom S

I generally find Chardonnays a little ho-hum, but a recent bottle of LeGrys '99 (Marlborough?) Chardonnay reminded me how good an aged Chardonnay can be.

...and still some way behind the NZ SB's.

I read a report the 04 SB harvest was 110% larger than '03. Whew...that's a BIG number. I can only assume here in Oz we will be invaded with a myriad of affordable kiwi SB's. Gotta be good for the consumer with Summer coming on. :>)

Hooroo....

"Swooper" wrote........

Like the 2003 Australian vintage, which was restricted because of drought conditions, the 2003 NZ vintage was very small because of spring frosts in the two major growing regions.

I have seen where the 2004 Australian crush was some 26% higher than '03.

This has been mirrored on this side of the Tasman sea where a combination of favourable weather conditions and an increase in the area under production has seen production more than doubled: a record harvest of 166,000 tonnes - up from 76,900 tonnes in '03.

It should come as no surprise that Sauvignon Blanc accounts for nearly 1/3 of all plantings and that between them SB, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon account for 85% of grapes planted in New Zealand.

For those with a statistical bent, take a look at -

"st.helier" wrote in news:1096841200.985245@ftpsrv1:

All of which means we should be swimming in NZ juice within the year. (But I wonder if the price will reflect growers always get pinched, but notice how often the consumer doesn't get the same result?)

Dunno about swimming - but you should get greater choice.

Price of NZ SB here is pretty cheap, so I don't foresee reduction on price.

More wine availability may mean importers cannot maintain high margins though.