Perfect Pairing with Shrimp Lettuce Wrap

This wine and food pairing blog was inspired by my husband, Ron. Almost every night, as we prepare dinner, he will look across the kitchen and ask, “What are we drinking tonight, honey?” As he knows, I like to complement even the simplest of meals with the appropriate wine. The blog intends to inspire others to purposefully pair wine with food by sharing examples of meals we have made, the wine we drank, and the story behind it. It will hopefully be an insightful, informative, and entertaining journey through my love for food and wine pairing. Tonight, it’s Shrimp Lettuce Wrap. Beaune Appetite.

   

Starting with Homegrown Lettuce

We have beautiful lettuce the size of small elephant ears, well maybe palm leaves, growing in our window boxes on the front porch. You may be wondering why we are growing lettuce on the porch in window boxes and not in our yard. Well, it’s called Mr. Groundhog and his voracious appetite for greens. We gave up planting lettuce in the yard two years ago and now get a bumper crop off the porch at our lovely home in Gloucester, Massachusetts. With this fresh green vegetable in mind, I decided that it would be a great time to try making lettuce wraps. I chose an easy recipe involving spicy shrimp with sriracha mayonnaise and vinegar marinated carrots. At first, Ron was concerned that this would not be a good meal. “It’s going to be messy,” he said, and the leaves aren’t that big, but I’m willing to go along if you want to make it. I decided to make some vegetable fried rice, which he always loves, to accompany this new dish and ensure Ron got enough to eat.    

Pairing with Vouvray

It would be a spicy dish but not one that would be overwhelming with heat. I did not want wine that was too big or too bold. Red wine, of any type, would emphasize the dish’s spiciness and bring out the tannins in the wine. Instead, the dish needed something to calm the heat and complement the spice. To create a balanced combination of sweet and spicy flavors, I chose one of my favorite wines from the Loire Valley region of France, Marc Bredif Vouvray 2020. It is a dry white wine made from Chenin Blanc grapes. It has a soft texture and beautiful fruit flavors of peach, pear, and a little bit of yellow apple, along with good acidity, depth, and body.

The Result

That evening, when I put the lettuce wraps filled with tangy shrimp and the seasoned carrots on our plates, Ron took his first bite and said, “Wow, this is good.” And after his first sip of Vouvray, he declared, “Honey, this is a perfect pairing.”