Cooling Out With Some Riesling

PSA: take your vacation days!

I’ve been off from work this whole week, the first long period of time I’ve had where I wasn’t recovering from a move or something worse.

I’ve actually slept. And turns out when you actually sleep enough, you have energy to do things. So I rethunk my home office layout, ordered a new desk (OMG wait till you see it, it should arrive at the end of August), reorganized my bedroom drawers and closets so everything is super tidy and off the floor. I actually finished unpacking and setting up the guest room! I tidied up the basement so you can actually see the floor for the first time in three months!

I also rounded up a bunch of stuff, both mine and the cats’, and donated it all. It was hard, but I hope other kitties get a little comfort and enjoyment out of their things.

I had dinner with one friend on Tuesday night, who’s been going through her own challenging time. To make it super easy on everyone, I ordered takeout (y’all, Indian Garden in Yardley, PA! So. Good!) and we enjoyed it at her house. Great food and a great evening.

I got more Indian food this evening, and obvs needed something to drink with it. Luckily I had some 2014 Serenity Vineyards Dry Riesling on hand.

Riesling is the low-hanging fruit (hurr) of food pairing, because it goes with practically everything. It’s the first recommendation for any spicy dish. But not all rieslings pair perfectly all the time. The hotter the dish, the more off-dry you should go. According to this blog post on German riesling rules, wines with lower alcohol levels, 8 % to 10%, are better with lighter fare. Think sushi and shellfish. This Finger Lakes riesling is 13.3% alcohol, and had a much rounder feel on the palate. And even thought it’s called a dry riesling, I would call it more off-dry.

It was a decent match with my fairly spicy (to this Yankee anyway) lamb curry. The roundness of the fruit — honeycrisp apple, a little creamy pear — was refreshing between bites of food. And even though ZOMG WHITE WINE WITH RED MEAT? I can’t really think of any red wines that would have worked, unless we’re talking sweeter German Dornfelder, which is kinda tough to come by in my local wine shop. Other dishes I’d serve this with: poached salmon, shrimp, definitely sushi, chicken salad, scallops (for those of you out there who aren’t grotesquely allergic to them as is your obed’t correspondent).

So to sum up: take your vacation days. You need them. They’re yours. And grab some yummy food, a good pal, and a bottle of riesling to refresh body and soul.