470405 Mon Dec 17 17:34:47 -0800 2007 33 34 Wine 0 3216815 Will someone please give me several recommendations for wine which will be suitable for drinking with a main dish of Lobster Fra Diavolo? My host specified a red.... guests will include people who like wine but are not necessarily connoisseurs. We're looking at a mid range price... but something that ( I hate to say this but....) most people will/might enjoy. TYIA !!! Mon Dec 17 17:34:47 -0800 2007 75332 Gio 1 3216854 It is REALLY hard to ive you a red wine reccmendation here. The dish screams sparkling, rose sparkling, big Friulian white (or that style), or maybe a dry rose. That said, if I have to give a red reccomendation I would go with a good structured Beaujolais. Try a good Moulin-a-Vent or a St.-Amour. I guess you could also do a lighter styled Chianti or Rosso di Montalcino. Or maybe even a lighter styled Barbera. Mon Dec 17 17:47:02 -0800 2007 3216815 50041 whiner 2 3216873 Thank you whiner... very much. I know this dish has much going for it. That's why I came here to the experts. Thank you! Do you think I should buck the host and go with something other than a red? Mon Dec 17 17:56:26 -0800 2007 3216854 75332 Gio 3 3216889 Well, I guess if I were in your position I would probably call the host and ask if he was set on a red or not. I would never go to a party having been told to bring a red wine and show up with something else. But, on the other hand, in this case, I might call and say, "ooo, I think this one wine might pair really well but it isn't red." That said, I do think my red reccomendations will work. I just think something like a sprakling rose would work better. I also don't know what price range you are looking in. I've heard people say "mid price range" and mean $10 and I've heard them say that and mean $50+. So if you give a little more concrete, I think I, and a lot of others, could help you out a bit more. Mon Dec 17 18:02:02 -0800 2007 3216873 50041 whiner 4 3216915 That's a great reply whiner. Shall we say somewhere between 20$ and 50$? Also, I like the idea of a sparkling wine. Mon Dec 17 18:08:54 -0800 2007 3216889 75332 Gio 5 3216980 Ok, yeah. I would say, if I was in your position, I would probaly call up the host and say, "I was thinking, I'd really like to see how such-and-such Champagne/sparling wine works with that dish; is that ok with you?" As for specific reccomendations... I would be temped to suggest a Rose Champagne. It is a little closer to the original order, and it may pair just as well, if not better, than a traditional Champagne, depending upon the exact recipie being used. Some good rose Champagnes in your price range are: Nicolas Fuillatte Rose ($27-$40) Barthelemy Brut Rose ($45-$50) Bruno Paillard Rose ($50+) Duval-Leroy Rose ($38-$48) Gosset (I forget its name) ($50-$55) Also, the Soter sparkling Rose of Pinot Noir from Oregon should be $45-$50 and that is awesome stuff. If you went the non rose route there are just so many. But my personal preferences lie first with the basic Billecart-Salmon ($40ish) then with Bollinger Special Cuvee ($40-$50),Roederer ($40ish), Charles Heidsiek ($35ish), Deutz ($30-$40), Duval-Leroy ($28-$35) and a plethora of grower-producers that I could report on but not knowing what selections you have available... Mon Dec 17 18:32:11 -0800 2007 3216915 50041 whiner 6 3216993 This is terrific. I like the recs vis a vis the sparkling roses. The host is my brother. I think he'll like anything I bring to the table. I just needed to get the expert's opinion. Many thanks! Mon Dec 17 18:38:55 -0800 2007 3216980 75332 Gio 7 3217020 Had another thought.... would a Nero d'Avola be too "heavy"? Mon Dec 17 18:49:20 -0800 2007 3216993 75332 Gio 8 3217276 While I am a big fan of Nero d'Avola's, I think the tannins won't mesh well with the spice in the typical Fra Diavolo. While I know your host has suggested a red, I think the dish would pair better with a white wine. I would lean towards a Gavi, a Gruner Veltliner, or a Albarino for this dish. Mon Dec 17 20:31:58 -0800 2007 3217020 61376 Bhutani 9 3220460 Absolutely in agreement with a sparkling Rose. No other wine, IMO, will work as well, with both the lobster and tiny bit of heat from da devil...and it is a tiny bit: most recipes call for only 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of chili flakes. Just a note on spicy heat and sparkling wines...Champagne (big and little C) performs extremely well with a tiny touch of heat: wasabi, horseradish, spicy ground mustard, Chinese mustard sauce, chili flakes...just not too much. Rose Champagne works even better than regular Champagne with spicy heat...it has enough heft to stand up to spiciness...and there's something funny and strange about the bubbles...it seems to foil the heat... Tue Dec 18 18:35:16 -0800 2007 3217276 18222 maria lorraine 10 3220588 "Just a note on spicy heat and sparkling wines...Champagne (big and little C) performs extremely well with a tiny touch of heat: wasabi, horseradish, spicy ground mustard, Chinese mustard sauce, chili flakes...just not too much. Rose Champagne works even better than regular Champagne with spicy heat...it has enough heft to stand up to spiciness...and there's something funny and strange about the bubbles...it seems to foil the heat..." Absolutely! And the bubbles lift the hot oils off the toung, that is why they work so well ;-) Tue Dec 18 19:18:45 -0800 2007 3220460 50041 whiner 8 3217396 I LOVE Nero d'Avola with spicy sausage. BUT, it would completely overpower the lobster, imo. Mon Dec 17 21:26:13 -0800 2007 3217020 50041 whiner 1 3217578 The first thing I thought of was Jermann's Dreams (chardonnay). It should cost somewhere around $55-$70. If you are still bringing a red, like whiner said, a rosso di montalcino should work okay. I lean heavily towards white here as well. Tue Dec 18 00:17:10 -0800 2007 3216815 97069 mengathon 1 3218031 Thank you so much for all your recommendations. I'm going with a Rose Champagne. I've printed out the lists to take with me when I go shopping. Thanks again!! Tue Dec 18 07:33:14 -0800 2007 3216815 75332 Gio 1 3218229 Alot of wines work with "lobster", but only a couple are right for Fra Diavolo... With lobster you can do chardonnay, champagnes (with preference to heavy chardonnay), riesling, viognier, muscadet, gewurztraminer, sauvignon blancs, white rhones, some sherries, soave... it's a long list of MOSTLY WHITE WINES, btw... Your friend asking for a red wine here, you should really just ignore them :) Anyway, back to the dish at hand... when you think of Fra Diavolo two primary ingredients come to mind: spicy chili peppers/flakes and Garlic... this is where your list of appropriate wines gets real short... Chardonnay and Riesling are both incredible "garlic wines", but of the two riesling is by far the better match for chili pepper... Gewurztraminer is also a fantastic garlic and chili pepper wine, but not quite the overall match for lobster that chardonnay and riesling are (IMO) Answer: Serve riesling... kabinett is about perfect. Distant 2nd choice would be champagne blanc de blancs, chardonnay, and if you have a really nice example of a fully fruited alsatian gewurztraminer that can also be nice here, just less predictable than a mainstream kabinett... Tue Dec 18 08:35:36 -0800 2007 3216815 42549 Chicago Mike 2 3218557 Well now.... I reserve the right to change my mind. Thank you Mike!! Tue Dec 18 09:52:58 -0800 2007 3218229 75332 Gio 2 3220429 Hmmm... I'm a fan of Riesling with chili flakes and garlic, but I'm not a fan of it wih lobster or cooked tomtoes... to each his own, though... I'm sure the company will be the real star of a holiday meal. :-) While a bit out of your price range, in principle I agree with mengathon that Jermann's "Dreams" would be a decent match. Actually, many of the top Friulian whites could work. If you live in New York there is always Miani Sauvignon Blanc, also from Friuli, which is relatively unknown and, short of white Haut-Brion, perhaps the greatest dry Sauvignon Blanc of the world. It is not available in most of the U.S., though. (Just as a complete aside, the other well known, high-end, widely available, Friulian winery is Schiopetto.) All that said, I still say rose Champagne :-) cheers! Tue Dec 18 18:24:18 -0800 2007 3218229 50041 whiner 3 3220441 Thank you whiner, sincerely. I live north of Boston, so everything depends on what I can find.... perhaps it will be the rose Champagne after all. Cin, cin. Tue Dec 18 18:30:11 -0800 2007 3220429 75332 Gio 4 3220498 Gio, I get the Nicholas Feiuilatte Rose Champagne at Kappy's on Rte 1. I love it. Tue Dec 18 18:51:15 -0800 2007 3220441 10027 Chris VR 5 3220535 GREAT!!!!! I'm there tomorrow. A million thanks Chris! Whew, I'm glad that's over. LOL And I Love that Marie Lorraine confirmed this. Thank you one and all. Tue Dec 18 19:00:35 -0800 2007 3220498 75332 Gio 3 3220962 Riesling can be a great match for all varieties of spicy shellfish dishes, from this fra diavolo lobster to spicy thai crab salads to a fiery chinese shrimp dish... The great thing about this dinner is that you don't have to serve just one wine with it... none of these suggestions are at an expensive price point by any means, and by trying several you get a great opportunity to compare and contrast various wine matches... Tue Dec 18 22:22:44 -0800 2007 3220429 42549 Chicago Mike 4 3221691 I'll drink champagne with anything, but I wonder if this dinner calls for a white, a rose, and a red--and, maybe, keeping to relatively local matches, Italians. Almost any crisp, fruity white (falanghina, vermentino, inzolia, greco di tufo, fiano), a sturdy negroamaro rosato from Puglia ( I like Rosa del Golfo), and a medium red with a good fruit/acid/warmth balance, like a Ciro from Calabria, an Etna Rosso from Sicily or a Monica from Sardinia. Wed Dec 19 08:08:39 -0800 2007 3220962 22851 obob96 1 3236840 A follow up of The Meal..... I chose to bring to the party Johannishof Vogel "V" Riesling Kabinett 2006 and Nicholas Feiuilatte Rose Champagne. When I arrived I explained my choices viv a vis your recommendations for a good pairing with Lobster Fra Diavolo. My host announced he had not made that dish because he decided to steam the enormous lobsters in beer and onions but did have angel hair pasta in a spicy tomato sauce. As it turned everyone loved both wines and they did indeed pair very well with the meal, even though not the original menu. The Riesling was pleasantly fruity with a sweet finish. The Champagne was just plain delightful! So, thank you for your wise and astute recommendations. Wed Dec 26 04:03:14 -0800 2007 3216815 75332 Gio 2 3237645 Thanks for the update Gio. I too had a bottle of Nicholas Feuillatte Rose Champagne on Christmas eve. We paired it with crab cakes with a garlic celery root aioli. I think the champagne worked perfectly with the dish and pretty darn well on its own as well. Wed Dec 26 11:19:00 -0800 2007 3236840 61376 Bhutani 2 3237693 Gio, a bummer about the ole bait-and-switch on the lobster fra, my all-time favorite italian seafood dish. But we must forgive our siblings for their foibles, at least through the holidays. Sometime around presidents' day you can call him the dirty rat that he was :) Wed Dec 26 11:40:45 -0800 2007 3236840 57170 Veggo 3 3238530 Well curiously enough, I think I got the best of the bargain. DH, DD and I did not/could not eat all of the 3 lbs of lobster plunked on our plates. I took the bodies home and made my own LFD tonight. (in fact I also had two huge claws of my lobster to contribute.) Absolutely delicious. She who laughs last - and all that rot. Presidents' Day, hmmmmm? Why should that figure? IJW. Wed Dec 26 17:39:52 -0800 2007 3237693 75332 Gio 2 3239841 Interesting report, Gio. There is a lesson here... Obviously lobster with pasta and tomato sauce is quite a different dish than Lobster Fra Diavolo.... especially different as to how you might pair the wines... The lesson is to be sure whats on the menu and to let the chef know that you're buying and bringing some not-inexpensive wines based on their menu representations! Thu Dec 27 09:26:21 -0800 2007 3236840 42549 Chicago Mike 3 3241231 Yes, You are correct, Mike. I went on the assumption that the original menu would stand. Perhaps a confirmation phone call might have been in order before the trek to the store. OTOH I learned a lot from your expert opinion and the opinions of whiner and others who chimed in. And for that I thank you. I love this bar. Thu Dec 27 17:07:54 -0800 2007 3239841 75332 Gio 4 3241360 they really switched the dish on you... from lobster fra diavolo to lobster marinara :) Your wines would have been so different w/ the LFD. Thu Dec 27 17:55:38 -0800 2007 3241231 42549 Chicago Mike 1 3241877 Well, It sounds like you had a great time and enjoyed the wines, LFD or not! Thanks for the update and glad we could be of service :-) Thu Dec 27 23:27:56 -0800 2007 3216815 50041 whiner 1 5140637 I thought I would bring up an older similar thread rather than start new.... I am making Calamari Fra Diavolo tonight - does the change of protein effect the recommendations or can I use this thread as my guide? Thu Oct 29 11:20:20 -0700 2009 3216815 119852 TheRealAde 2 5140704 Good idea to use an existing, very informative thread. With calamari, I'd stick to the original rose/white suggestions. There's a great Italian red, Masi Costasera Valpolicella - it's rested in Amarone casks - that we've found to be a superb match with firey dishes. However, some here may find the Valpolicella a little overwhelming when served with seafood. Thu Oct 29 11:35:56 -0700 2009 5140637 270888 shaogo 3 5143560 Slightly chilled, it's a great match, actually. In fact, you can do quite a few different 'reds' that will match well if they are slightly chilled. My personal preference however, would still be a sparkling. But then again, even though sparkling is my favorite, I rarely drink it at home unless there's a special occasion, mostly bring to friends and/or order out. So if I was at home making this, I would either have a chilled Vinho Verde, Gewurtztraminer, or as above, chilled red. Fri Oct 30 12:39:55 -0700 2009 5140704 1104460 Restaurant Dish 1 5154877 I also tend to disagree with the red. I would pick a nice Pinot Grigio or similar to act against the spice of the dish and round it out. Wed Nov 04 08:16:49 -0800 2009 3216815 134710 taboo