What Foods To Pair With Microbially Uninhibited (aka Flawed) Natural Wine

Natural Wine that has been made without sulfites and other additives often exhibits at least 1 of 3 major microbial expressions: Volatile Acidity (aka “VA” aka “Vinegar”), Sulfides - H2S etc - (aka “funkiness”), and Mouse or Mouse Taint.

The characteristics of these microbial expressions also often dominate the sensory experience of the wine, other than visually. VA and Mouse influence all three of the tasting impressions: scent, flavor, and texture.

Because of this dominance, when making a food pairing decision it’s usually pointless to think about the kind of wine, variety of grape, or region of origin. It doesn’t matter if you’re drinking a 100% whole cluster, amphora fermented and aged Seperavi from Georgia if the main thing you smell, taste, and feel is VA.

Mouse is a bit different in that it generally only affects the second half of a wine’s taste, from mid-pallet through finish. But it’s usually such a powerful ending impression that it eclipses any of the up-front sensory impressions.

Similarly, but in reverse, Sulfides generally only affect the first half of the tasting experience of a wine, from aroma through the attack (or approach, or front/fore-pallet?). But it also can be such a strong first impression of the wine that the sense of funkiness can stay with you and linger all the way through the finish. And when sulfides have become mercaptans their flavor actually does stay all the way through the taste of a wine, from sniff to finish.

So here are the perfect pairings for natural wines with one of these microbial expressions (aka “wine flaws”):

1.      The perfect pairing for VA is: Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic is the perfect pairing for a natural wine with dominant volatile acidity.

VA is the most common flavor experience in natural wines, especially in red wines made without sulfites. The good news is that it’s got an easy pairing that works perfectly: balsamic vinegar.

VA is actually acetic acid, which is vinegar. So a wine with VA dominant flavors is actually diluted vinegar, and the best thing to pair with diluted vinegar to make it taste better is undiluted vinegar.

Pair a wine with lots of VA with balsamic glazed carrots or lamb chops, or a balsamic-soy marinated grilled portabella, tossed salad with olive oil and balsamic drizzle, or hard cheese or figs soaked in balsamic.

2.      The perfect pairing for Mouse is: Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter is the perfect pairing for a natural wine with mouse taint.

Mouse is as much textural as flavorful. It lends a chalky, grainy texture to the wines it dominates. It also removes the fruity flavors of a wine, and leaves aromas and flavors of urine-moistened straw with a back-of-the-pallet impact like a pine nut that has lost its freshness, or horseradish if horseradish had a nutty flavor.

Peanut Butter can make the most of these non-fruit pallet experiences. Its ground nut texture is similar and makes the Mouse Taint feel almost like melty, crumbly, aged tannins, while balancing and enhancing the most desirable elements of the Mouse flavors.

Try mouse tainted natural wines with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Indonesian Satay, and Panang Curry, or just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

3.      The perfect pairing for sulfides is: Cooked or Fermented Cabbage

Cooked or fermented cabbage is the perfect pairing for a funky natural wine with dominant sulfide aromas.

This is truly a like-for-like pairing because cabbage is high in, you guessed it, sulfur. As you cook or ferment it, you actually create and increase Hydrogen Sulfide, the exact compound that is usually most dominant in “stinky” or “funky” wine.

If you’re embracing a wine with a dominant sulfide expression, it’s a great time to eat those foods that otherwise might over-power another wine’s more delicate, nuanced fruit or floral expressions. Cabbage is good for you, but the gassy, sulfur smell it emits when cooked can be difficult to pair… unless you have a gassy, sulfuric wine too!

Try sauerkraut with pork, kimchi with Korean BBQ, or corned beef with cabbage.

So there you have it: three great pairings with the three major microbial developments in natural wines.

If you’d like recipes for any of the foods mentioned here, please email us via our Contact Page.

Happy drinking and eating!