Wine With. . . Falafel

by Paul Lukacs and Marguerite Thomas

Our young friend Caroline came to dinner recently while she was in town visiting Johns Hopkins University, where she'll be a freshman this fall.  Caroline doesn't drink wine -- honest -- and in fact when confronted with it she wrinkles her pretty little nose and waves the glass away with a disdainful, 'Yech!'  But she allows that some day she may take an interest in wine, and with that prospect in mind she said, 'Why don't you guys advise people what wines to drink with Falafel?  Falafel is practically the only thing my friends and I ever eat, and I'll bet lots of people would like to know what the best wines are to have with it.' 

We were intrigued enough by this challenge to order up some takeout falafel from Lebanese Taverna, a family-owned chain of restaurants in the Washington/ Baltimore> region.  An exceedingly popular food in the Middle East, and increasingly in Western countries, a falafel is a fried ball or patty made from chickpeas (or fava beans), which is usually tucked into a pita pocket and topped with a hummus-based sauce. 

Because we weren't sure what kind of wine would work best with falafel, we laid out a good stylistic range of possibilities, everything from Albariño to Zinfandel.  The two of us came away from the experiment with slightly different takes on the white wines.  One of us felt that virtually all of them were surprisingly good with the falafel by virtue of adding a light and refreshing contrast to the inherent dry texture and mild taste of the dish.  The other thought that the lighter wines-Albariño, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Verdicchio--were not quite substantial enough to stand up to the dense chickpeas, whereas wine with a little more heft and fruit-flavor intensity provided better balance.  As for the reds, we both concurred that wines with a strong fruit component were significantly more enjoyable than leaner and/or earthier examples.  And we were in complete agreement that a dry, yet delightfully fruity rosé made for an excellent match.  It had layers of fruit flavor backed by enough grip to counterbalance the dense, almost pasty, texture of the falafel. 

Our overall conclusion was that strong fruit character was the ultimate deal maker, especially when the fruitiness verged on sweet summery flavors such as peach and mango rather crisper, more austere vinous impressions of green apple or citrus.    

Selection

Approx. Price

Comments

Buena Vista, Carneros (California) Chardonnay 2005)

  $19

A ripe and juicy Chardonnay, this wine offered plenty of sweet, ripe fruit (along with a healthy dose of vanilla-scented oak), enabling it to stand up to the falafel and actual enhance the match.

Gravity Hills, Paso Robles (California) Zinfandel 'Tumbling Tractor' 2004

 $15

Sweet, jammy red fruit flavors, with a briary undertone, helped this wine enliven the meal.  Because it is not as hot or heavy as many contemporary Zins, it did not overpower the food.

Meinklang, Burgenland (Austria) Pinot Gris 2005

(Imported by Siema LLC)

 $16

Richly fruited, this wine (made with organically-grown grapes) proved very satisfying with the falafel-filled pita.  It tasted of sweet, ripe pears, with a mineral-tinged finish.  The impression of sweetness is what made for such a satisfying match.

Mitolo, McLaren Vale (Australia) Shirz 'Jester' 2004

(Imported by Epicurean Wines)

  $21

Although the flavors in this wine proved deeper and darker than those in the other wines we're recommending, it too showed plenty of ripe, fleshy fruit.  And ripe fruit turned out to be defining characteristic of a successful match with this particular dish.

Prieuré de Montézargues, Tavel (Rhône Valley, France) 2006

(Imported by Henriot)

  $20

A dry rosé, but still very fruit-forward, this may have been the most successful match of all.  The wine offered all the advantages of the whites, being cool and refreshing, while exhibiting some of the grip and depth that made the reds satisfying.