What wine do you drink with Thai or South East Asian cuisine? My go to wines for this food are sweet Rieslings, Chenin Blanc, or if a red a Pinot Noir. But, I had none of these in my cellar so I chose a dry Muscat from Spain. It was perfect.
The Wine: Bodegas Juan Gil - Dry Muscat - Jumilla, Spain $
The Food: A delicious and interesting Thai Filipino dinner by a fulfilled dreamer chef Rodgee Cao
The Place: Spice Thai Cuisine, Bloomfield NJ, an adorably cozy restaurant with excellent Thai and Filipino cuisine.
In all a wonderful taste trip to Thailand, the Philippines, and Jumilla Spain.
Udon Kee Mao stir fried udon noodles with mixed vegetables, chili, and onions with Thai basil sauce.
Muscat is a grape grown around the world that is known for its sweet floral aroma. It’s colors range from white to near black and is eaten off the vine, dried to raisins and used to make many beautiful wines like this dry Muscat, it is actually a little sweet, from Bodegas Juan Gil.
The current generation who run the winery, Juan Gil Gonzalez and his brother Paco, are the great grandchildren of Juan Gil Gimenez who founded the winery back in 1916. Four generations have established a reputation of producing great quality wine, embracing modern wine technology while holding dear the traditions of the past.
Bodegas Juan Gil in the La Aragona Valley Jumilla Spain
We started our dinner with an appetizer of Barbecue Grilled Pork on a stick that was marinated in “Fil-Thai” sauces and served with an Achara Pickled Green Papaya, a Filipino condiment dish of pickled green papaya with carrots, red bell pepper and ginger.
The wine which Steven Tanzer of International Wine Cellars describes as “Pear, nectarine and orange on the nose, with notes of white flowers and mace adding complexity. Smooth and gently sweet, offering lively orchard fruit flavors and a hint of honeysuckle. Turns brighter with air, finishing with good punch and an echo of ripe pear” accented this wonderful dish so nicely.
Then two soups, which the wine completed very well.
Tom Ka soup with mushrooms, onion, lime juice, lemon grass, chili and coconut milk and a Chicken Dumpling soup with steamed chicken dumplings, napa cabbage, bok choy, and scallions in chicken broth. Diana was nursing a cold and this was the perfect remedy.
The owner and chef of Spice, Rodgee Cao, is a native of the Philippines so he brings flavors of that country as well as Thailand to the table. He developed his skills at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. He lives by these words “My Mother told me when I was young watching her cook our family meals, that food is as important as the air we breathe.”
Rodgee is a very cordial host as are all the wait staff and was excited that we ordered two of his signature dishes. The udon noodles you see above and Rodgee's Chicken & Pork Adobo.
Adobo was a style of cooking learned from the Spanish when they colonized the Philippines in 1521. It was used to preserve foods using vinegar and spices. Over the centuries Filipinos evolved it into a national dish using chicken, pork or both. The dish may differ by locality/province.
With dishes like this Rodgee “is fulfilling his dream of having his own restaurant to pursue his passion for cooking and entertaining.” Spice Website
Surprisingly, the wine was vivid enough to even pair well with this hearty dish. The aromas of fresh fruit and citrus and good acidity give a refreshing mouth feel.
The wine is made with grapes of small grain muscat grown in vineyards on gently sloping hillsides with chalky soils, dry climate and many hours of sun forming a microclimate perfect for growing this variety. It is perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety that is know by many names and makes many great wines like Moscato di Asti and sweet dessert and fortified wines.
Spice Thai Cuisine
26 Belleville Ave Bloomfield, NJ 07003 973-748-0056
Bodegas Juan Gil
Pasaje de la Aragonesa, Carretera de Fuentealamo, 30520 Jumilla, Murcia, Spain
34 968 43 50 22
The wine, Bodegas Juan Gil Muscat Moscatel 2011 was found at
42 Upper Montclair Plaza
Upper Montclair NJ 07043
973-746-7337
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