What wine(s) at Schwa?

I admit to being a bit daunted at trying to match this menu:

http://www.schwarestaurant.com/menu.htm

There are only two of us, so if I can avoid bringing a case of wine and asking the waitstaff for help, I'd prefer it. I'm not sure if going to half bottles is better because we can have greater variety or worse because it limits our options.

There is, of course, a recent and more descriptive account of what I expect will be pretty much the same menu over in the Schwa thread.

Any advice from armchair sommeliers is greatly appreciated.

You can develop a theme and match a wine to two or three dishes at most, but then it breaks down. I think I would try simple, fresh unoaked Pinot Noir from Burgundy, Oregon or Central California.

There are some other interesting options on whites - west coast viognier or pinot gris, or some of the southern Italian or Spanish whites, but they would be completely inappropriate for the meatier courses.

So something light, easy to quaff, not too intense in flavor or alcohol so it does not compete. Actually a Valpolicello, ever so slightly chilled, might be another interesting option, but I would probably go with the Pinot because it would hold up a bit better to the beef.

Thanks, dickson. Generally speaking, I'm inclined to bring a bottle of white that's easy drinking but without being overly characterful (Protocolo's white, Cosentino's The Novelist, and Pine Ridge's Chenin Blanc-Viognier blend all come to mind from among my current stock, though I don't think I could bring myself to bring the $6 Protocolo to such a place) for the first several courses; and, yes, a Pinot Noir for the second part of the meal.

With the number of courses that are going to need to match each wine, I'm not sure anything more specific is useful, but if anyone has in mind a particular bottle that seems especially appropriate for this menu, I'd love to hear that too, in addition to general comments.

HI,

When I went to Schwa recently, I didn't have the advantage of an updated menu. Instead I had their spring menu and grabbed ideas from this thread.

Don't ask me what I brought, because I didn't take down the label information. It was a white wine following the thinking of Pigmon and the advisor at Sam's.

Regards,

There's an age-old saying that great food demands simple wine, and great wine demands simple food -- and this is one saying that is true in the real world. The Schwa menu items want to be the center of attention, so make sure to pick wines that complement the food, not fight with it.

For a white wine, look for an unoaked chardonnay or semillon from Australia or a Tocai Friuliano from Italy, the younger the better. For a red wine, look for a Cotes du Rhone from the 2001 or 2004 vintages (stay away from 2002 and 2003 at all costs!). Another interesting red wine option would be a Cru Beaujolais from the Fleurie appellation, but stay away from the 2003 vintage at all costs. (The record heat in Europe in 2003 resulted in many wines being overblown and alcoholic, and if you bring one for dinner without tasting first, you would be playing Russian Roulette with your dinner experience...)

Mark

Champagne goes with lots of things, though perhaps not heavy meat dishes.

What do you guys think about either one of this wines?
white reisling Trefethen, California
Trimbach Reserve Pinot Gris 2002 from Alsace, France
Any other suggestions?

FWIW, I think a not to dramatic PN was a good suggestion and everything that Mark H suggested above seemed right on. Tocai would be a very willing partner, also possibly a dry Alsatian riesling. And I like the Cotes du Rhone alternative to PN. Sounds like a good time to me all around.

Other nice neutral whites could include various trebbiano-based Italians (like those from Tuscany/Umbria, e.g. Pomino Bianco from Banfi), or Galestro, Muller-Thurgau is another, or an Albarino, or white Rioja from Spain, or even a white Cotes du Rhone.

The person at Schwa who responded to my call about reservations suggested bringing a bottle of Cava or Prosecco to begin with, and that white wine was the most friendly for their menu overall if you only wanted one other wine to drink with the meal. (Although he thought it was best to have all three types: bubbly, white, then red.) He suggested several options, but I only remember Gruner Veltliner, unoaked Chardonnay, or a dry Rieseling. For red he recommended Cotes du Rhone, or Pinot Noir (I think.) Obviously I'm going to have to call and ask him again a bit closer to the actual reservation date...

I ended up bringing a bottle of white burgundy and a bottle of red. They worked just fine, but you know, if I had it to do over again I would probably bring a half bottle of bubbly and leave it at that. Two bottles for the two of us dulled my senses a little for the latter half of the meal, which was excellent by the way. Part of a very serious backlog of posts.

If I find the actual bottle names, which I wrote down somewhere, I'll post them. Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Aaron