Wine pairing for smoked fish?

Are you quibbling with me? If so, I must have misspoken, as I agree with what you've just written.

Agreed, David...er...Dale ;-)

Mark Lipton

Fwiw, let me state the following with respect to German still wines Trocken (dry): RS= 0-9 gr/l of sugar (The higher levels 4-9 gr/l require certain lower(!) levels of acidity) Halbtrocken (semidry): 8-18gr/l (same rule of acidity applies above 12 gr/l) Feinherb(not quite sweet) 18-23 gr/l Lieblich (slightly sweet) 18-45gr/l No statement: Anything from 18-300gr/l... Feinherb is a late addition to the vocabulary and not legally defined. Some vintners even use the term for wines drier than halbtrocken! Lieblich is used colloquially and never appears on labels.

Now there is another factor - the ratio of fructose sugar to glucose sugar is relatively high in the Riesling grape compared to other varieties, I've been told. This means that after glucose is consumed during fermentation there may still be a considerable amount of less convertible fructose which explains why a dry Riesling may appear fruity/sweet compared to other dry wines.

As to sweetness of Kabinett wines the RS may normally vary from below 30 to near 60 gr/l. In fact, as wines often are sold at a lower denomination than they are entitled to, a Kabinett may be a Spätlese in disguise, and have power and sweetness as well.

I've even seen Trocken Kabinetts with 13% ABV and that is far from what old traditions bade :-)

Finally, it is likely true that Kabinetts today are less sweet and more alcoholic than they used to be 20 years ago, not to speak of the years after WWII.

Anders

I've tried various high acidity chenins with smoked salmon, I can say that the match was disastrous, unveiling a taste I can only describe as "tinned sardine."

I'd go with a dry riesling, I guess. Or beer.

One of my favorite feasts, sadly unavailable here in France (that I know of). A decent bagel even is hard to come by.

-E

Feel fortunate that you do not live in Texas if you crave a decent bagel. Anything that requires mastication appears to be forbidden fruit down here. The same applies to bread, howsoever elaborate the designated type which is slapped on. I anxiously await the return of cooler weather when I can not feel too guilty about firing up my oven and begin baking my own bagels and bread once more. :-)

Godzilla

I get bagels shipped to Virginia every two months from H and H Bagels in Brooklyn freeze them and unthaw and toast, couldn't be better.

Envoyer la nourriture en France serait comme envoyer des charbons à Newcastle !

Godzilla

Hi Jon,

I am rather fond of the St. Urbans-Hof Okfener Bockstein Kabinett (from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) region. Pick up a bottle of that if you can and let me (us) know how it compares to the Dr. Pauly.

One of these days I am going to have to go to a comparative tasting of Rieslings from the various regions in Germany to learn the differences...

Since none of the wines that were recommended on the NG were available to me in PA, I purchased a 2006 Dr. Konstantine Frank semi-dry Riesling, a NY state vineyard, on the recommendation of the manager of my local LCB store. I had a few sips before we started to eat and really enjoyed it. Just a hint of sweetness, more than enough acid and a very nice honeysuckle nose. Some type of indistinct melon on the tongue.

Not so great a pairing with the fish, however. I think the problem is there are many different flavors that encompass this meal. The wine was OK with some (lox, smoked salmon, chub, black olives) and really clashed with others (whitefish salad, herring, keugel, sable). I ate the parts of the meal that went well while I enjoyed the wine and switched to coffee for the rest of the meal. Worked for me. I noticed that everyone else let it rest after a few sips.

Well, we gave it our best shot and I really appreciate everyone's input. It seems I learn something new every day from this group and that makes me very happy.

Thanks, Jon