Wine

Beach Party

Winning and Dining Seaside

    When my wife, Kathy, and I first moved to California a few years ago, say about 1970, we had no idea that people actually drank wine at the beach. We came from rural Montana, and Minnesota before that. In Minnesota it was a Hamm’s beer with your walleyed pike, or a shot of Jack Daniel’s in the icehouse while you watched the Super Bowl. The Minnesota Vikings were in Super Bowl IV in 1970, but managed to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs. That called for another shot of Jack Daniel’s in the icehouse.
    Once Kathy and I settled here in Alameda, some friends from Southern California suggested that the most super fun thing to do in Northern California was to make a trip to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco to buy a freshly cooked Dungeness crab, a loaf of sourdough bread and a bottle of Italian Chianti (in the basket-bottle, of course); then transport all these goodies across the Golden Gate Bridge and wind up at Stinson Beach, spread a blanket on the sand and enjoy the afternoon, which we did. A nice Riesling or a smooth Pinot Noir would have been great. In fact, even Retsina from a bota bag would have been OK. But the total experience is what’s important—and what we remember. So, to enhance your beach-picnic experience, here are some ways to match fine wines to a variety of summer dishes.
    Getting into a clambake usually means being in New England at the right time of year, but we have done it in Santa Cruz, where it’s legal to build a big fire on the beach, and I’m not sure we couldn’t pull it off right here in Alameda. You can cook the clams and mussels by burying them beneath the coals, and throw a few succulent lobster tails and some fresh veggies on the grill, as well, basted with a little a butter and olive oil. My choice of wine would be a crisp Sancerre (made from Sauvignon Blanc grape) from the Loire Valley in France.
    How about taking your inspiration from the Mediterranean coast of Spain and cooking up a big pan of paella, with shrimp, clams, mussels, octopus and fresh local fish? Served on a bed of rice or risotto with lots of saffron, garlic and spices, this does very well with any brut (the designation for the driest) sparkling wine from California or Spain (where it’s called cava). Paella also pairs well with a Spanish Rioja, a medium-
bodied red made from the Tempranillo grape.
    If you want to recreate a classic New Orleans crawfish boil, you’ll have to track down the crawfish to throw into the pot of boiling water with a sack of the essential spices (a blend of salt, cayenne pepper, garlic, onion and additional spices, which you can find premixed and packaged at many stores and from online dealers). Many Louisiana fish dealers will ship fresh crawfish to your door. We recently found a great little place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., called Rosey Baby Crawfish & Cajun House (www.roseybaby.com), where you can order 2-, 5- or 10-pound buckets of these succulent little crustaceans. You’ll need lots of napkins—and a bottle of good, spicy red Zinfandel for this one.
    It’s pretty hard to beat a lively, crisp Rosé for beach cuisine. It pairs especially well with ceviche made with shrimp, octopus, fish or even conch, and spit-grilled tequila-marinated shrimp, dipped in a combo of butter and mild Cajun hot sauce. Another pretty good combination is a well-chilled sparkling Blanc de Noir (basically a rose-colored bubbly) matched with a dozen fresh oysters and a mild red-chile cocktail sauce sparked with lemon, horseradish and a splash of Tabasco.
    We recently spent an evening watching the sunset at a beach concert in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We scored some gorgeous tomatoes from a local produce stand and some creamy Mexican queso blanco. All we were missing was the fresh basil, but with a chilled Oregon Pinot Gris, it all went down well, including the sun. You don’t need a ticket to the Caribbean for a perfect beach experience, just your favorite summer dishes and a well-chosen wine.