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“In reality, there are very few wine choices that will ruin a meal, but good choices can raise the experience of a meal from enjoyable to memorable.”
Robert J. Harrington, Food and Wine Pairing: A Sensory Experience
This week’s pairing was born of my limitless capacity to be late. For everything. (No really, ask my family and friends.)
I was running way behind on choosing wines for a dinner Sam and I were hosting for friends. And, to make matters worse, I’d never tried pairing wines with any of the dishes Sam was making. So it was really down to knowing my basics, calling on some intuition and hoping for a bit of luck.
About Loimer Zweigelt
And luck definitely struck. Our local super market just happens to stock some of Fred Loimer’s wines. Weingut Loimer makes wine in Austria and is best known for whites, but I grabbed their red made from the Zweigelt grape off the shelf that day. Refreshing and juicy, Zweigelt (pronounced “ts-VIY-galt) is known for its flavors of red and black fruits with a touch of violets and slight peppery kick.* It’s really versatile, too – drinkable on it’s own or with food. And it works for nearly any time of year. With younger versions like this, I like it a bit cooler, so I made sure to store it in the fridge for about 30 minutes before our guests arrived.
Pairing with Loimer Zweigelt
The first elements that drew me to this pairing were Zweigelt’s subtle savory notes – particularly black pepper and licorice. I thought they might make a congruent pairing with the warming flavors in the spiced red lentils (Masoor Tadka Dal) that Sam was making at home. I also imagined the fresh berry flavors and elevated acidity of Zweigelt would be nice refreshers from the dal’s delicious intensity.
So…how was it?
I’m happy to report that this pairing was bang on. I remember hovering, glass in hand, over Sam at the stove, stealing a spoonful of piping hot dal when he had his back turned. After doing that forceful exhale we all do when too hot food is nearly burning our mouths, I gasped, “Oh, that’s good. Oh…that’s really good. Urmugurd, you should try this!” The two worked really well together. In the end, the fruit and freshness of the wine played the biggest role in making this a win, but the pepper and licorice definitely delivered as well.
This masoor dal is a dish we now make a few times a month at home. It’s easy, requires minimal ingredients, and is incredibly satisfying. My English husband is fairly discerning when it comes to the quality of Indian food, having grown up in a country where there is an abundance of great Indian eateries. So it took me a while to find a satisfactory veganizable recipe. The recipe below is adapted from Hebbars Kitchen’s Masoor Dal Tadka recipe. Their IG feed is amazing, too, though not 100% vegan. Still, definitely worth a follow for inspiration.
Having now repeated this pairing a few times, I realized there are aspects beyond the flavors of the pairing that influenced its success.
1st: temperature matters. When I was a bit hasty and poured myself a glass of actually room temperature wine (20C/68F), the pairing didn’t have the same pizazz. The dal comes off the stove quite warm and with a bit of spicy heat to boot. While temperature won’t chemically calm the spicy impact of chili on the mouth, it does create a pleasing sense of coolness that tricks the brain into thinking the opposite is true. I believe red wine is generally served slightly too warm and in this case particularly, a properly chilled wine amplified the complimentary pairing in all the best ways.
2nd: It is true that a good pairing can take an evening from enjoyable to memorable. And that’s all we have, in the end, isn’t it? Flavor lasts only a moment, but has the power to leave lingering memories in its wake. Neither the dal nor the Zweigelt were expensive by any stretch of the meaning (the total cost for the 4 of us for this pairing alone was under 5 per person!), but the combination of the two made for an incredibly rich evening.
Cheers to that!
*If you’re interested in seeing my tasting notes for any of the wines posted here, you can find them in the saved “Tasting Notes” stories on the Plants and Plonk Instagram page.
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Recipe (adapted from Hebbars Kitchen)
serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 medium, onion diced
- 2 gloves garlic
- 1 thumb sized piece fresh ginger
- 1 thumb sized piece fresh turmeric
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup red lentils
- 3 ½ cup water (plus additional if needed)
for tempering:
- 1 tsp vegan butter
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp cayenne chili powder
- a few curry leaves (if available)
- 1 dried red chili, broken
optional garnishes:
- fresh chopped tomatoes
- drizzle coconut milk
- fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- After chopping the onion and tomatoes (if not already done), use a microplane to grate the ginger to make about ½ teaspoon paste (you won’t need the whole knob of ginger). Do the same with the turmeric. Then grate both cloves of garlic.
- In a heavy bottomed pot, heat butter and bay leaf over medium heat.
- When melted, add onions and sauté until translucent.
- Add ginger and garlic pastes and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add the 2 chopped tomatoes and sauté until they turn soft and start to break down
- Add turmeric paste, red chili flakes and salt. Sauté for 1-2 minutes (until the spices turn aromatic)
- Add the red lentils and mix well.
- Add 3 ½ cups of water and stir to mix
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 30-40 minutes, until the lentils are entirely disintegrated and consistency is thick (if too thick, add water to adjust)*
- In the last 5 minutes, prepare the tempering by heating butter in a small pot or saucepan over medium heat.
- Add all remaining ingredients for tempering.
- Once the spices splutter or pop, pour the contents into the dal. Be careful not to temper for too long or they will burn
- Add chopped coriander if using
- Top with any additional garnishes and serve with rice and a glass of slightly chilled Zweigelt.
celeste radosevich 
Ohh let me know if you do! The world will be a better place with more dal eaters, I’m sure of it.
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Outstanding Celeste! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks to You and Sam for this tasty looking dish!
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