/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Food & Drink

Myth-busting study reveals that western wine can actually taste good with Chinese food

By Jon Sufrin
Copy link
Cast pearls before wine: how to pair up when it comes to Chinese cuisine (Photo by Simon Law)
Cast pearls before wine: how to pair up when it comes to Chinese cuisine (Photo by Simon Law)

Drinking wine with Chinese food has always been a bit like wearing Kanye West shutter shades: more about fashion than function, yet still somehow missing the mark. That’s all about to change, though, thanks to a new study put together by Toronto wine expert Tony Aspler and New York master sommelier Roger Dagorn. The pair methodically paired up Cantonese dishes with western vino and delivered a thorough and objective (there was no sponsorship from wine producers) pairing guide that offers more than a few surprises.

First among them is the debunking of the myth that reds are the go-to pairing for Chinese cuisine.  “In fact, that’s the worst thing you can do,” says Aspler, referring to a trend established by newly affluent Chinese connoisseurs who frequently buy expensive, status-bearing Bordeaux reds to go with their meals. “You don’t want tannin in those wines. You want good acidity and good fruit—that tension of flavours in the Chinese dish, you need the same tension in the wine.”

We can hardly blame the nouveau riche for taking the easy way out. Pairing wines with Asian cuisine is a difficult venture. The sequence of a Chinese dinner switches back and forth from meat to fish to soup, for example, and the complexity of seasonings and spices can easily throw off dedicated matchmaking efforts.

The guide—titled Pairing a Traditional Cantonese Banquet With Western Wines: Lessons Learnedis supported by Henry Wu, the president of Metropolitan Hotels, who brought the wine experts together for a free-for-all at his Lai Wah Heen restaurant on Chestnut Street. Chef Patrick Lin helped Aspler and Dagorn deconstruct the complexity of Chinese dishes and begin to systematically categorize which wines are best suited to which edibles. “I could go wherever I wanted to select a style of wine,” says Aspler, who once participated in a similar though far more restrictive study. “The whole wine world was at my disposal.”

Pairing highlights include:

• honey-glazed barbecue pork with late-harvest (and affordable) Ontario riesling; • shredded jellyfish salad with unoaked chardonnay; • Peking duck with Ontario gamay; • deep-fried crab claw with Alsace pinot blanc.

The complete pairing guide and flavour profiles are available here.

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for Table Talk, our free newsletter with essential food and drink stories.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

Inside the rise and fall of the Vaulter Bandit, the 21st century’s most notorious bank robber
Deep Dives

Inside the rise and fall of the Vaulter Bandit, the 21st century’s most notorious bank robber

Inside the Latest Issue

The June issue of Toronto Life features our annual ranking of the best new restaurants. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.