food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington

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Chapter 6 Salt, Bitterness, and Bubbles
Aligoté, a white wine from the Burgundy region of France that is the traditional wine used
to create the classic aperitif Kir, in which the chilled wine is mixed with crème de cassis. A
popular example of a semi-sparkling wine is Moscato d’Asti from the Piedmont region of
Italy. It is produced with varying degrees of effervescence but is generally lighter than true
sparkling wine. Fully sparkling wines are produced in a variety of locations. Champagne
is the most well known, but Spain actually produces more sparkling wine than any other
country.
In North America, good-quality sparkling wines are also produced in the cooler
regions of California and in Washington, Oregon, and Canada (VQA Niagara Peninsula and
VQA Okanagan Valley). Wine producers in Sonoma and Carneros are producing highquality
sparklers in these cool climate zones. Northwest producers such as Domaine Ste.
Michelle (Washington) and Argyle (Oregon) are producing sparkling wines that have received
much acclaim. Canadian wine producers are taking advantage of the cooler temperatures
and developing a strong group of brut sparkling wines as well as some interesting
specialties such as Inniskillin’s sparkling ice wine.
EFFERVESCENCE: THE GREAT EQUALIZER?
Effervescence creates another sensation to consider beyond issues of sweetness, acidity,
body, and flavor, and generally adds a significant food-friendly quality to wine. Effervescence
is perceived on the tongue and in other areas of the mouth. It has a cleansing and refreshing
effect on fat (cutting through it much like acidity in wine), salt, and bitterness, preparing
the palate for the next bite.
Recently, I experimented with the impact of effervescence on low, medium, and high
levels of salt (in air-popped popcorn) as well as four levels of bitterness in food (in iceberg
lettuce, celery sticks, Belgian endive, and radicchio). Using a trained sensory panel and the
exercises at the end of this chapter, the impact of bubbles was tested using straight effervescence
in water (using three levels: still, a 50/50 mix of still water and seltzer, and 100
percent seltzer) and effervescence present in wine (again using three levels: a still Chardonnay,
a Moscato d’Asti, and a Champagne).
The findings can be described by two guidelines:
Rule #3: Highly salty foods work better with wines that have high effervescence.
Rule #4: The negative impact of bitter food is lessened when combined with wines of
moderate to high levels of effervescence.
For the tests of the impact with salty foods, effervescence in water lessened the negative
affects of high salt and cleansed the palate, as suggested in food and wine literature. One
hundred percent seltzer water had the greatest overall impact on cleansing the palate but
Figure 6.1
1
Water—
No
Bubbles
Water Effervescence Samples
2
Water—
Moderate
Bubbles
3
Water—
High
Bubbles