InterWined recently had the luxury of enjoying Champagne in two settings of high society.
Last night was at Lancaster House, located next to Buckingham Palace. The party was held by French investment bank, Societe Generale, which now has a new operator at its helm.
But those details are secondary to the terrific Champagne the bank served…so much […]

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Each Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.

This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ continues InterWined’s All American, a month-long celebration of some of American cuisine’s greatest dishes from classic comfort foods to the unsung greats of American soulfood, with InterWined’s Own Homemade Buffalo Wings with Lemon Parsley Dip.

You could write a book about Buffalo Wings…and, indeed, someone has. Two someones, if fact — Aaron Reynolds and Paulette Bogan. They are a children’s author and an illustrator, respectively, and the book is called — surprise, surprise — Buffalo Wings. It’s the story of a rooster and quest and a recipe by woman named Bellissimo and made famous by a guy named Frank at a place called the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.

And, if a story about what must surely be a cannibal rooster hungry for some chicken wings doused in a sauce created by a woman named beautiful in a bar in Buffalo doesn’t mark out a recipe as an American classic, nothing will. Let’s be honest, shall we?

Now, controversial tales of cannibalising roosters aside, the story of Buffalo Wings still finds itself in the midst of a minor controversy. To bread or not to bread…

Breaded wings are able to absorb more of the sauce into the breading and maintain the fiery kick of the peppers; they are a little more civilised and only slightly messy to eat, the breading coming free on the tips of one’s fingers and easily picked away. Un-breaded wings somewhat prevent the sauce from fully absorbing into the meat of the wing; sauce drips from wings and stains the fingers and lips a bright orange. Given our rooster friend’s rather shocking predilections, this is surely his preferred method of feasting, feathers ruffled and orange stains everywhere.

Now, whatever your choice in all things chicken wings, InterWined is here to help. (I was going to write “swings both ways”, but was worried what kind of spam comments those words might generate. But, since I just wrote that I wasn’t going to write it, I’ll guess I’ll find out soon enough.)

Regardless of how you take your wings and which way InterWined swings, the Brown Brothers Non-Vintage Pinot Noir Chardonnay & Pinot Meunier (13%), £9-10 from Waitrose, is a treat. It’s not a sophisticated as a sparkling white wine could be; it’s not a dazzler to save for a special occasion — even if it did recently win the 2007 Yarden Trophy at International Wine and Spirits Competition in London. It’s a non-vintage, after all. It’s a sparkler to enjoy any day at any time for any occasion that I discovered in 2004, while looking for a bottle of wine to take to BYOB Vietnamese in Newtown, Sydney Australia. There’s a light, green-apple tinge perfectly in keeping with its pale yellow-green colour. It’s light and unfussy without being forgettable, fruity for a dry wine, and marked with a creamy sweetness to it. The creamy fruit flavour makes for an excellent balance to the spicy, hot zing of the Buffalo Wing sauce and the citrus and herb flavour of the lemon parsley dip. A winning wine for a winning recipe: 9.5.

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

Homemade Buffalo Wings with Lemon Parsley Dip

Click on the post to view and download the recipe

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To the point:

Perrier-Jouet wins for best non-vintage Champagne, for value, for taste. For that elusive odds-ratio that wine websites, such as this, describe but never really ultimately get. The art, my good friends, is in the struggle. The nobility is in the craft of the winemaker. The legacy is in the bottle. The meaning is in the taste.

Lanson Black Label is another great one and it tastes great with cigarettes, but InterWined doesn’t smoke, so what do we make of that?

Lanson Rosé Champagne is a good deal at £24 at Costcutter. The short-term exposure to the red skinned Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier give it that special pink tint, usually. The Lanson is not-very-creamy and peachy in color. Of all the notable non-vintages sampled during various entries of the last seven days, this is the Winston Churchill. A bulldog. Rugged and sluggish, with a hint of heavy metals (zinc, copper). No biscuits, no vanilla.

Drink by itself and never in anger. 8.6 points.

Moet & Chandon, also £24 at Costcutter. This non-vintage is very pleasant and introspective. A Gandhi of a Champagne. Sweet and well-structured, but the character feels tarnished. The finish is dry, and over way to soon. 8.6 points.

Thus concludes the non-vintage review of non-vintage Champagnes for InterWined.com.

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Bollinger Non-Vintage Special Cuvee, light and airy, and exceptionally easy-to-drink. Green apples and very dry. Great bubbles, small and copious: 8.9.

Yellow Label Veuve Cliquot, real ‘Champagne’ like. Crisp and refreshing, with biscuit and hints of lemon and vanilla: 8.9.

Both are made from a blend of Pinto Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Both are a touch under £30.

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