Matching wine to cuisines it isn’t traditionally drunk with is the focus of this periodic feature, in which we pick a BYO restaurant, sample a few dishes, and recommend some wines.
Grilled shrimp appetizer 1 (Grilled marinated shrimp with mace, cardamom, lemon juice, ginger, and garlic)
$10
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Tikka Ram Sharma, the chef and owner of Lincoln Park’s INDIAN GRILL, specializes in northern Indian cuisine, much of which is cooked quickly in the intense heat of a charcoal-fired clay oven, or tandoor. Meats, which come out tender and flavorful, are seasoned with powerful but not overwhelming doses of classic Indian spices and served with counterbalancing sweet chutneys and cool raitas. Curry dishes combine turmeric, saffron, fenugreek, pepper, curry leaf, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves–a complex melange that calls for a muscular wine, with moderate to high acidity and medium to full body. The consulting sommelier on this visit was Amy Lewis of X/O Chicago.
- 2002 Artazuri Garnacha (Navarra, Spain), $7.50-$11. Garnacha, Spanish for grenache, is one of the most widely planted grapes in Spain. To make this wine, Artazuri grows the grapes on 75-year-old vines and ferments and ages their juice first in stainless steel tanks, then in wood casks. Most of the wines from this maker are strong and full-bodied; this one, with its aromas and flavors of tart blackberries and mint and peppery finish, is no exception. It has enough structure and body to stand up to the tandoori chicken; milder berry notes complement the spiciness of the dish without dominating it. The fruitiness is nice with the rogan josh too, keeping the gaminess of the lamb in check while emphasizing its savoriness. (Binny’s, Que Syrah, Sam’s)
Que Syrah Fine Wines 3726 N. Southport, 773-871-8888
