7 Unusual Wines for Pork

29% Pinotage, 22% Touriga Nacional, 19% Tannat, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Grenache, 4% Primitivo

This is a battle of the international varieties and a blend I’m sure you’ll never encounter again. Here it works, as long as you don’t mind a little Pinotage with your pork. Complex and slightly rugged, this puts me in the mind for slow smoked pork ribs with a fruity but not terribly sweet glaze. Something spiced but not overtly spicy to pair with the pretty fruit and savory undertones of this wine.

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55% Lagrein, 45% Merlot  

Here’s another wine with a slightly unusual set of aromatics. More gamy than funky with a decidedly barnyard edge, this actually would be a great match for something more wild boar like, but a nice heirloom pig will do just fine. Consider country style ribs, marinated with garlic, rosemary and red wine, braised with some fresh tomatoes and delicate yet fragrant fresh chili peppers. The wine’s acid will offer nice balance to the dish and the gamy flavors will be a great complement to the deep flavors of braised pork.

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When you find a wine as rich and supple as this Rhone-style blend, you need to be careful when choosing a dish to pair it with. You can easily overwhelm the  structure here, so you’ll need something on the subtle and lean side. A nice, Italian-style arista pork roast, thinly sliced and served at room temperature, would be a fine pairing. The subtle salty and herbal elements of the dish won’t overpower the wine and will really let the fruit shine.

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48% Zinfandel, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petite Sirah

Here, on the other hand, you have a wine that dares you to try to overpower it. It laughs in your face when you tell it about the spicy, smoked pork ribs you’re planning on serving with it, with its jalapeno jelly glaze. Seriously, this is a big, woody, jammy wine that will not please everyone, but if you’re thinking about spicy pork ribs, it would be a fine choice.

Photo courtesy of Bibi via Flickr/cc

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Here’s yet another big, plump, fruity wine, albeit one that shows fewer wood and jammy notes than the Director’s Cut previously mentioned. This is the kind of wine that will work perfectly with a simple pork dish with slightly piquant flavors, something Spanish influenced for example. Consider a nice, gently grilled pork loin that has been marinated in garlic and herbs and is served with a light salsa of piquillo peppers. The simple fruitiness of the wine will work well with the gentle zing of the sauce and the fresh, pure flavors that this sort of dish produces.

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Talk about your oddball wines. It’s tough to find the right peer group to taste a Cabernet-based blend from Idaho with, but this was my chance. It’s a bit of a rustic wine, tannic yet fruity and quite varietally correct, but certainly like-able. To pair well, it’s going to need an assertive dish, something a bit rustic itself with flavors that can tame the dry wood tannins. Grilling is a good route to go and coating nice, meaty pork chops with a dry rub of smoked paprika, cumin and oregano, with a shot of coffee thrown in for good measure, would make this wine sing. Oh, and by the way, Idaho?

Photo courtesy of Moomettes via Flickr/cc

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And then there was this. Kenwood’s Vintage Red Wine. What a throwback this is, harkening back to the days when California produced some remarkably solid little table wines. Dry, well balanced and slightly unremarkable in many ways, but perfectly delicious and great for just about any occasion. This is more Old World than New World, and quite the bargain to boot. It’s a light and fresh wine so don’t overpower it with big, smoky and sweet flavors, instead go for something with simple, clean flavors. Gently grilled pork chops marinated in mustard, white wine and sage are always delicious and would be the perfect yin to this wine’s yang.

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Want to learn about some of the most classic and delicious wine and cheese pairings? Click here for the perfect wine and cheese pairing menu, just in time for your summer entertaining!