Hit & Miss: Trefethen 2011 Dry Riesling with Thai Sweet Potato Soup & Pickles

Wine: Trefethen 2011 Dry Riesling
Origin: Oak Knoll, Napa Valley

Taste: Overtly aromatic and loaded with varietal notes of lime, honeydew melon and peach blossom. Perky acidity, light body, low-ish alcohol and cleansing, dry finish.

Expectation: Light to moderately rich foods with fragrant and/or hot spices should match well. Most Australian Rieslings would probably show the same results with these pairings.

Hit: Thai Sweet Potato Soup
This weighty, rich soup showed a nice textural contrast to the light, crisp wine. The mere 6.1 g/L of residual sugar whisk the soup’s heat-spice effects off the palate. Finally, both are highly fragrant, creating a nice aromatic balance.

Hit, Again: Schorr’s Zesty Pickles Chips
(Couldn’t resist trying after the fun match with Sauvignon Blanc Sekt earlier this week!) Despite my expectation the pickles’ garlic and spices would undermine the wine, their green elements – cucumber, dill and yuzu – found harmony with the wine’s lime flavors. Not surprisingly, their joltingly high acids also worked together, too.