In keeping up with the blog’s new direction (or a return to the old, really), we’ve decided to revisit the discussion on wine’s accessibility.
When we put up the blog years ago, we had a goal of providing content which allows Pinoys to understand that wine is not necessarily an expensive, snobby (Alta! Susyal!) hobby (unless the person is really into legendary appellations, for which none of us are judging… Just spare us a sip please!).
Which is why one of our favourite entries ended up being our Chinese fast food and Riesling pairing because, again, there is no rule against doing so.
When we decided what our next “accessible pairing for the average Pinoy” article, we had the following parameters:
- The wine should be inexpensive and easy to find in most Metro Manila groceries or wine stores
- The food should be equally inexpensive and the restaurant has to have sufficient branches in the metro
- The pairing should make sense theoretically and IRL
All these considered, we decided our next topic was:
Pinoy BBQ and Inasal Pairing with Zinfandel
Generally, Zinfandel is the best wine to pair with BBQ. To make it realistic, we decided to use the following materials for our experiment:
- Sutter Home Zinfandel (under PHP500)
- Beringer Main & Vine White Zinfandel (under PHP500)
- Bacolod Chicken BBQ Chicken Inasal (the thigh or paa part to be specific) and Pork BBQ (because it was a little closer to the authentic stuff without needing a plane ticket to Bacolod)
Here are our findings:
- Sutter Home Zinfandel was better with the Pork BBQ as opposed to the Chicken Inasal (maybe there is some merit to the “red meat to red wine” rule). It brought out the charred notes from the BBQ (which was especially pleasant for Chia). I personal loved that the fruity notes of the wine was a perfect compliment to what I could only refer to as the “barbecue flavors” of the meat. I also liked the wine enough to polish it off after the experiment (eheh).
- Beringer Main & Vine White Zinfandel was better with the Chicken Inasal than the Pork BBQ. It was Chia’s first time to really explore the concept of White Zinfandel (I took the opportunity as a “responsible” wine educator to introduce her to the notion of red grapes capable of producing red, rosé, and white wine). While people easily dismiss the wine off as being, well, “basic”, I feel like the wine is one of the best go-to pairs with Filipino food (some of the flavors even reminded us of the Lipps candy we grew up to in 90s Manila).
In conclusion, do we recommend this food and wine pairing? Yes, enough for us to bring these wines to the next Pinoy BBQ house party we’re going to. 😉
Special thanks to Ms. Edna Diaz of BestWorld Beverages for the Sutter Home Zinfandel; and Ms. Katherine Yao-Santos and Xanjo Santos of Happy Living Philippines for the Beringer Main & Vine White Zinfandel
