Malbec and Ribs

Our annual vacation is coming up, and it was a struggle to decide where to go. We've decided on a simple beach vacation, but we gave serious thought to going to South America. We can still pretend we're there by sampling wines from that continent.

We don't know a lot about the wines of South America. One thing we do know is that Argentina is renowned for their Malbec. And the other thing we know: with their culture of barbeque, or "Asado" as it is called there, the Malbec is excellent for pairing with meat dishes. So with a bottle of Argentine Malbec on the wine rack, we opened up the grill and tried to embrace the culture where the wine was made.

We know that Malbec should be a big flavor, with a bit of spice. So we decided to pair it with some spicy pork ribs. Like with like, spice with spice. Pork can usually benefit from some sweet red fruit flavors. It's a pairing that makes sense, and it worked in this situation. We also grilled some fresh spring asparagus with a little lemon and chili. In that case, a wine with vibrant red fruits competed with the green vegetable flavor.

What did we learn this time around? Nothing much, just that what little we did know about Argentine Malbec served us well. It's good to know that a little knowledge can get you started, but we are looking forward to exploring South America more, even if from the comfort of our own home.