Tag Archives: Lodi wine

Wine and food pairings 12: Hot dogs (because everyone refuses to believe it can be done)

hot dogsThe Wine Curmudgeon pairs wine with some of his favorite recipes in this occasional feature. This edition: three wines with hot dogs — a fancy version, but hot dogs nonetheless.

The Wine Curmudgeon once hosted a weekend cookout where the main dish was hot dogs. To which one of the guests sneered: “I’d like to see that — drinking wine with hot dogs.”

Oh ye of little faith. Wine is not reserved for $100 dinners or dishes made with three sauces. Wine is for dinner — no matter what dinner is. Which, of course, has been the point of the blog for almost 14 years. Hence, wine with hot dogs, which is something I’ve wanted to write about since my Cordon Bleu teaching days. We did part of a class where the students paired wine with fast food, to show people learning haute cuisine that wine didn’t have to be haute.

This version, called Hot Dog Boats and adapted from the Tastemade/Tasty cooking hegemony, is much fancier than those 8 for 99 cent hot dogs served on the buns that fall apart as soon as you pick them up. A compound butter, and par-baking the buns even. But it’s well worth the effort — think of it as a chili cheese dog for people who want to take the hot dog to the next level.

Click here to download or print a PDF of the recipe. Pairing hot dogs isn’t as difficult or as goofy as it seems. It’s a sausage, after all, and the Germans and the French in Alsace have doing wine and sausages for centuries. These wines will get you started:

• Old Soul Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 ($12, sample, 13.7%): This is a simple, Lodi-style cab, so there’s lots of sweet berry fruit. But it’s more than just another sweet red wine, with a bit of heft in the back for balance. A fine value.

• Inazio Urruzola Rosado 2019 ($16, sample, 10.5%): Interesting Spanish rose from the Basque region that’s made with truly obscure grapes. It’s  lemony and savory, and not what most people expect. Imported by Winesellers, Ltd

• August Kesseler Riesling Kabinett 2018 ($13, purchased, 10.5%): Zippy, oily, and sweetish German riesling, with some lime and stone fruit. Because riesling with sausages. Highly recommended. Imported by Vineyard Brands

Blog associate editor Churro contributed to this post.

Full disclosure: One of these days, I’ll remember take a picture of the dish; the one accompanying the post is from Tasty.

More about wine and food pairings:
• Wine and food pairings 11: Croque monsieur, turkey style
• Wine and food pairings 10: Lemon rosemary roasted turkey thighs
• Wine and food pairings 9: Mushroom ragu

Slider photo: “Rome Elite Event: wine, food and nice people” by Yelp.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Wine of the week: The Other Red 2009

The Other RedLet ?s get the bad news out of the way first. This wine now costs as much as $15 a bottle. Which, as much as the Wine Curmudgeon likes it and as much as I respect the producer, Lodi ?s Peirano Estate, is a lot of money for what it is.

Fortunately, The Other (purchased) can still be found for as little as $10. When that ?s the case, it ?s the kind of wine that makes writing the blog such a pleasure. This vintage is a blend of moslty cabernet sauvignon and merlot, with 10 percent syrah, and is fruitier than usual (cherry). But it has enough acid and tannins for balance, as well as just 13.8 percent alcohol. The difference in alcohol between this and 14.5 percent wine, over the course of a bottle, is not only noticeable, but enjoyable — a weeknight dinner without getting buzzed.

Note, too, that the cherry is real fruit, not the fake, candied kind that is the current style as winemakers try to give the impression of sweetness in dry wine.

It does seem a little thin in the back, but that may be a function of age. Three years is a long time for this kind of wine to last. But The Other remains one of the best California-style red blends available, and has never disappointed me. Serve this with any casual red meat dinner.