Chinese or Thai take-out is one of my favorite weekly dinners. Last week, a friend asked what I was doing for dinner and I told her it was a “take-out night." She told me to be sure I picked up some German Riesling on the way home if I didn’t already have some. “It’s perfect, I promise." She couldn’t have made a better suggestion. The pairing was wonderful. The off-dry character brings out the spices in Asian favorites like Thai Red Curry, General Tsao’s and Szechuan Chicken. I don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy take-out without it now! Some options (you’ll want the kabinett, probably, for dinner):
- Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett halb-trocken, Mosel
- Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling Kabinett, Rheingau
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Thanisch Bernkastler Lay Riesling Spatlese, Mosel
- Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling Spatlese, Rheingau
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Dr Deinhard Deidisheimer Grainhuble Riesling Auslese, Pfalz
By the way, there are different types of German Riesling, ranging from dry to syrupy sweet so make sure you look for one of the following German words on the label:
- kabinett (basic and dry)
- spatlese (“late harvest” and sweet)
- auslese (“select harvest” and sweeter)
- beerenauslese (syrupy and sweet, dessert wine)
German Rieslings are fruity and refreshing and with an alcohol level of 8-11%, you can even go back for seconds.