Best Wine with Chinese Food – Morissons Falanghina
Wine of the Week
2020 Falanghina – Campania – Italy
A Friday night Chinese takeaway or a home stir-fry can be a thing of beauty and I happened on this pairing by pure chance and not by any refined planning.
This simple Italian wine is the perfect partner and the best wine to pair with Chinese Food.
The Lemony citrus works very well with seafood and the acidity cuts through those slightly oily, deep fried prawn toasts and spring rolls.
Pairing wine with food isn’t an exact science and of course what suits one palate may not suit somebody else.
I generally prefer not to get to deep into unami levels in food , low risk foods or high risk wines and when it comes to white wine I often consider one simple generalisation……
“if you can squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on a food to enhance it’s flavour then it’s likely going to pair well with the majority of mainstream white wines”
Usual price £7.00 at time of writing on offer at £6!
https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/morrisons-the-best-falanghina-421302011
Tasting Notes
Pale limey yellow in appearance with a lively lemon citrus impact on first sniff, further nasal investigation provides fresh pine and pear in the background.
The lively lemons continue into the tasting with tropical pineapple that quickly gives way to a bitter orange finish, a seemingly simple wine that yields some intriguing surprise and complexity.
About the Wine
It is estimated that there are perhaps 10,000 different grape varieties in the world, in Italy alone, 500 or so are used although the official ministry only recognise around 350 of them.
When I discovered this wine I have to confess I’d certainly never heard of Falanghina and it makes little appearance in my library of wine books.
Falanghina Greco as it is also known is grown mostly in the coastal region of Campania, North of Naples, down there just above the ankle, near the shin of the Italian boot!
To try to put into perspective the significance of the lesser known grape varieties; of the entire global area under vine more than 1/3 of the land is captured by just 13 varieties of grape and only 33 varities covers 50%.
Therefore don’t beat yourself up if like me, you’ve never heard of the ancient variety Falanghina.
VFM Rating: 97
Where: Morissons
When: 10/11/21
Price: £6.00 (usually £7.00)