Mahalo Plenty! Hawaiian Sips and Nibbles #WinePW

Susannah of Avvinare is hosting this month's Wine Pairing Weekend. You can read her invitation here. 

But, in our online group, she prompted: "As Thanksgiving rolls around, it is a great time to look at what is happening in American wine. Wines are now made in all 50 States, more or less. An amazing change from some years ago. For this month, we are focusing on some of the lesser known states. It will be exciting to see what we all discover. For those abroad, if you can't get a wine from a little known US region, write about whatever you can that relates to the topic, more or less." Thanks for the flexibility. I am looking forward to seeing what the bloggers choose and pair.

If you are reading this early enough, feel free to join in our live Twitter chat on Saturday, November 14th at 8am Pacific time. Follow the hashtag #WinePW and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. In the meantime, all of these posts will be live between Friday, November 13th and Saturday, November 14th.

• Nicole from Somm's Table is Cooking to the Wine: Acquiesce Grenache Rosé with a Glazed Stuffed Pork Loin Roast.
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla says Mahalo Plenty! Hawaiian Sips and Nibbles.
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm adds Let’s Celebrate Thanksgiving by Eating and Drinking Locally.
• Jeff from Food Wine Click! brings Idiot’s Grace: Explorers in the Columbia Gorge AVA.
• David from Cooking Chat pairs Cranberry Jalapeño Dip with New England Wine. 
• Linda from My Full Wine Glass suggests Raising a Glass of PA Cab Franc – Paired with a Philly Cheesesteak.
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator showcases Local Love: 6 Ventura County Wines from Local Vines paired with Watkins Beef, Ventura Fresh Fish.
• Deanna from Asian Test Kitchen asks Is Virginia for Wine Lovers?
• Susannah from Avvinare offers Wines from New Mexico Paired with New Mexican Style Beef Chile.

Mahalo Plenty!

Oahu, October 2017

Earlier this year, we took a virtual trip to Hawaii because our actual trip - to celebrate R's graduation from high school - was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic shelter-in-place orders. And by 'virtual trip' I mean that we binge-watched the revamped Hawaii Five-O television series and whipped up several Hawaiian-inspired dishes.

I wanted to see if I could track down any information about wines from Hawaii...and, even better, a few bottles. And while we are still sheltered in place, here on California's central coast, and there is a renewed commitment to social distancing as we enter into cold and flu season on top of the coronavirus pandemic, we have much for which to be thankful. So, I will reflect on those, lift a virtual glass with all of my #WinePW friends, and say Mahalo Plenty! Thank you very much.

Oahu, October 2017

My boys have been to Oahu several times with my parents in recent years as my dad grew up there and wanted to spend some time on the island with his grandsons.

Ke'e Beach, Kauai, July 2003

Jake and I honeymooned on Kauai in 2000. Sadly, we haven't been back since 2003 when we traveled to the islands with a toddler (the one who just graduated from high school!), my pregnant belly, and both of our families. It was such a great time. But it's been far too long. I was really looking forward to browsing the sunshine markets and relaxing on island-time this month. Oh, well. At least we received the cost of our plane tickets as future vouches. When the world opens back up again, I will be ready for a tropical vacation!

So, I already mentioned that we explored a few Hawaiian-inspired dishes earlier this year. You can click on the title to go to the original recipe post. While I wasn't specifically doing wine pairings with those, I've added my thoughts on what I would have poured along with information about the Hawaiian wines I found.

Hawaiian Sips and Nibbles

As Susannah mentioned in her invitation, wine is made in almost every single one of the fifty states. I set out to explore wines made in the fiftieth state: Hawaii! It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to find Hawaiian wines. Actually two of the three bottles I bought aren't even made with grapes. But there is a history of fermenting whatever fruits available into wine. Hopefully Susannah is okay with a little bit of a reach for this event.

 And I added the challenge of trying to pair these wines with Asian food. I honestly don't know why I think Asian food is so difficult to pair with wine. So, I set out to debunk those assumptions as well.

When I think about pairing wines with food, I hope to enhance or augment the flavor sensations. Wines shouldn't compete with the food, but should complement it. I've found that the saltiness or spiciness of Asian foods react with an unpleasing mouth-pucker when paired with wines that are high in tannins.

The bottle of Maui Blanc - pineapple wine - would be a nice match with a bowl of soy-laden Shoyu Ahi Poke.

This wine is made with 100% Maui Gold pineapples that were hand-picked, crushed, and pressed at Maui Wine in Kula, a district of Maui that stretches across the western-facing slopes of Haleakalā, from Makawao to Ulupalakua. Once the pineapples are crushed, the fruit is fermented in stainless steel for two weeks before being racked and aged for four months.

It turns out that the only grape-based wine I found from Hawaii - Mele Red Blend - is made with grapes that are grown in California though they say that sometimes the California fruit is mixed with their estate fruit. But information was sketchy on the details. Oh, well.

This smooth table wine made with Cabernet and Syrah grapes would play well with the umami-heavy Loco Moco.

I hadn't actually planned to post a new recipe for this weekend's Wine Pairing Weekend event that looked at lesser known wine regions. In fact, I had planned to hold this bottle for our small, sheltered-in-place virtual Thanksgiving feast to the Hawaiian islands. But, I never say 'no' to fried chicken and was aching to try this version. Its batter is made with soy sauce, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and rice flour - Mochiko. So, here we are with a Mochiko Chicken paired with the Mele Red Blend. 

I think I would end this Hawaiian feast with a bottle of the Hula o Maui pineapple sparkling wine.

Made from 100% Maui Gold pineapples, like the Maui Blanc, this was first produced to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the winery...as an experiment. One hundred cases sold out within a month, so it was added to their portfolio offerings on a regular basis. Produced in the Traditional Method (Methode Champenoise). it is aged on the lees for 6 to 8 months and fermented in stainless steel.

Initially I thought to pour this sparkling wine with a a sushi starter, but I think it would be a beautiful contrast to rich Haupia-Filled Malasadas.

Well, those are my musings about pairing Hawaiian-made wines with popular Hawaiian foods. Next month the #WinePW bloggers will return to wrap up 2020 with posts about Cabernet Franc around the world with Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm at the lead. Stay tuned...