 Hello, hello, welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I am your host, Matthew Horky. Hi, I'm Shareen Tan. This is a cool episode. We're at the ABC Brickfords Market Hawker Center in Singapore. When we talk about Asian food, you know people think about spices and sweetness. Often people default to things like aromatic ribs like goa stramina, or something with a little bit of residual sugar, like risley. Today is really an update away for us to do caring that can really challenge you or think about pairing food and wine in a very different way. So we're here with actually a nice importer for bringing in some boutique Italian wines. We have Louie from Luigi's Wines. Hello everyone. Thanks, Matt and Shareen, for having me. Yeah. I'm an importer of Italian wines. We specialize in working with small winemates that are dedicated to the native varieties of Italy. Things that are pretty unique in cellular profile, they're very regional wines. So I thought it would be interesting to have with some of our favorite local foods. Let's get into it, shall we? We're gonna go with Luigi's pick first. We have Hokkien mee. Tell us about this dish and why you think it's so special. Hokkien mee, fried Hokkien mee is very hearty. It's got a lot of shrimp broth. It's got a bit of pork fat, you know, all in this very rich and flavorful dish. So I love to have mineral-driven white wines with this rich prawny broth. Yeah. I have Pinot Bianco from Auto-RDJ. Auto-RDJ is an interesting part of Italy. It's left behind by the Austrians after the First World War. And they have a very interesting salt and altitude. And something that they really specialize in is Pinot Bianco. I can drink Auto-RDJ Pinot Bianco as a daily wine, which I'll talk about later. Personally, I can eat Hokkien mee every day. Okay, let's give this a go. I can't wait to dig into this. I know, he was so excited about this. That's good Hokkien mee. It's rich, it's got a bit of fat. Oh, and I'm not... It's okay. Yes, the seedling cuts through and the mineral tea comes out because of the seafood element that is in the noodle. Okay. And for this reason, it may be a bit complicated whether you choose to put lime and chili, which is typical of this dish. Let's try the second pairing. If you pick Vernaccia, I'm a big fan of this producer. Louis is too. The producer's name is Montenegro and they are in San Gimignano. The proprietress is Elisabeth Faggioli, a really inspiring woman and a great wine maker. And why I like the acidity in this wine is not as high as the Pinot Bianco, but the mineral aspect is even stronger. Vernaccia, the Vernaccia de Sinali has a little bit more texture, about mineral notes. And it's like a bit of skin contact. And this is one of those white wines that should not be served too cold. That works surprisingly well. I think it really depends on what you look for in the pairing. Both of them pair well, but I like the first pairing because I like the refreshing varnish. I think, you know, it's another inexact thing about wine pairing. I think I like this wine a little bit better, so obviously I'm going to be more inclined to do it. Here, you're really getting the mineral and the liquid element, which but the richness of this wine, the texture, does stand up to the robustness of this dish. So I was going to say, it makes the dish and the wine both tastes a little bit richer in the mouth. Yes. So for my dish, I pick copia, which is essentially a flour wrap and stocked with turnip, with eggs, or vinscraw, peanut, and then they usually add a little bit of chili and sweet sauce into it. I call it the Chinese burrito, which is kind of like the same thing, right? You know, in a roll, and it's something that is really cheap. It's less than, it's usually like maybe a slightly more than one euro. Plus a neutral flavor so you can easily pair with a lot of wine. But at the same time, it's challenging because you get your peanut, you have your sweet sauce and your chili as well. My choice today is also Pinot Bianco, because while we all, all three of us here really enjoy Pinot Bianco more Alto Adige. In Italians, what I love about an Alto Adige is they're made at all price points and they're all good. Actually level all the way up. This is the top one, actually from now it's Margherita, right? Because the majority of wineries in Alto Adige are cooperatives, but what you get is fantastic value. I want pairing. It does take a little bit of interesting business on the finish. Maybe the Vinaccia might be paired with more better. Better, I think. Better, let's see. I think the Pinot Bianco could be too fruity for this. Right. It's a savory dish. Yeah, I like the Vinaccia better. The Vinaccia, when you smell it, it just goes well with the flavor. It's just very savory. Okay, for me, this is, the Vinaccia is way better pairing. Okay. It's the flavors of both complement each other and the balance is nice in the mouth. I picked Indian food because there's a famous Indian stall here in ABC. And the cool thing is that Indians are one of the four major ethnicities of Singapore. Here in Singapore, you're gonna find a lot more South Italian. South Indian food. And here we have some North Indian food. I've got some chicken masala. I've got some kind of mixed potato veggies. I got spinach and rice. Indian food, like you were saying, it's very difficult to pair, right? Yep. Very robust flavors that you will, there's already a lot going on and they are punching at the highest level. So you wouldn't automatically think about, you know, subtle wine to go in between. This is one of Shireen's favorite producers, Natto Fiorenzo. This is his Barbera, the Alba. Barbera is a very friendly and fruity grape. High in acidity, very low in tannins. Usually a very good versatile pairing partner for most things, including spicy things because spice doesn't always interact well with tannins. I'll take with the potato curry first. Let me try. I think I bombed this one. I don't think this one works very well. I find the herbs and spices of the potato really, that's quite overwhelming. It's a little bit too much. I think I don't recommend that. I'm gonna try the masala. You won't know if you don't try. So this is chicken masala. This is gonna be a spicier dish and a spicier tomato gravy sauce. With such flavors in the gravy, you're just gonna taste it all the time. You know, the wine can come and go but you're still gonna feel all that spice. The barbara with the chicken masala I think goes pretty well. It's not like the perfect marriage of flavors, but you're saying the wine does come and go but the barbara has this mineral action that kind of... It doesn't really clap. Yeah, much better than the preparing. Especially after I ate the masala sauce and I smelled the barbara, right? The flavor's really compliment on the most. It's not annoying, but it's not quite easy together. It shows what it is. It's from two very different worlds. Louis has a second wine. And he has the last belata, Romagna San Giovesi. I'm a big fan of from San Patriano. Cool story, you want to give him the story? Louis San Patriano is in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and it's on the East Coast. San Patriano is a winery with a mission. It helps in drug rehabilitation program. All the products from this community, obviously wine is just part of them, all go towards funding for this independent project. This is the mid-level Romagna San Giovesi, right? Which I actually, we're in the Emilia-Romagna. I love the San Giovesi, especially when you're having local food. They're so inexpensive, they're so good. Let's try it with the potato and I'll just shut up and let's try them. It goes okay with the potato, this potato curry, but the potato is still a little bit too much. In most of these cases, the food is winning. That's why you should come to Singapore because the food is winning. Let me try with the masala gravy here in the Romagna. I think it will be better. Might be my favorite parent. Pure like fruit and it's bold, it's still got the acidity cut through. And I think the key, San Giovesi or it's the brings a bit of earthiness. Not bad, but there's a lot of spice lingering. But I think no, I think it's good. It's not like, it's not like detaining each other. I think it goes well together. Yeah, I think so too. Not totally complimentary, but... What was your favorite parent today? But mine was the San Giovesi this, maybe Vernaccia, Hoki and me. Vernaccia, Hoki and me. I mean, I do it almost every Saturday. For me, I actually like the Vernaccia with copia. What are some takeaways? Many different wines, many different flavor profiles. You can pay attention to the structure. You can pay attention to the flavors. So these will result in different experiences. I think it's important to think about the flavor profile and also the balance in the mouth. And ultimately, it's all about trying because I think none of us got it figured out when it comes to food and wine pairing. We can be honest, none of these pairings were offensive, right? Very much, yeah. Like the show Sugar Acid Fat, thinking about how they all balance up together with the wine. Guys, if you are in Singapore or if you're in the area, want to check out some unique boutique Italian wines, I'll put Luigi's wine in the description box. Hello. Thank you for that. He also does deliveries to private customers. Really, really good selection of wines. Great prices too, especially when you're talking about... I've got a drop of plug, an honest one, okay? I've never tasted a bad bottle from Luigi. Everything is good when we talk about Leo. So guys, if you want to do it, check out the website and please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Exotic Wine Travel. Remember to drink adventurously, expand your palate, expand your mind, and we'll see you at the next episode.