The Hooters Dilema

Last night was not exactly what you would call a "Wine and Dine" night. There was, in fact, no wine to speak of and the dining consisted of hot wings and nachos. Hey, when you live where I do, you get your kicks where you can and endless wings on a random Wednesday sounded pretty good.

Out of curiousity I grabbed the bar menu to check out the wine list. And I use the term loosely. It read "Ask us about our colors of wine!". Colors! Hilarious. I found the tongue-in-cheek attitude towards wine rather refreshing. Hooters knows that wine is not it's bread and butter and decided not to let it take up precious real estate on the menu.

But it got me thinking. If one were to venture into a Hooters and ask for a glass of one of their 'colors' of wine (no doubt resulting in a confused look from the waitress), what would one order?? I'm not one to get caught up in the intricacies of food and wine pairing - I prefer to drink what I want no matter what I'm eating - but the thought of drinking wine while eating hot wings left me drawing a complete blank. I'm not sure it's ever even been attempted. At least not at a Hooters.

The obvious choice - and what is actually listed on the Hooters menu (or used to be) - is a bottle of Dom Perignon. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to spend that much on dinner, I'm not eating at Hooters. But they may be onto something. Beer is like the Hall to hot wings' Oates. Their harmonies coexist perfectly. And beer is carbonated. So is Dom. Perhaps the carbonation cuts through the fat of the wings and cleanses the palate nicely? This suggests that a Prosecco frizzante or a Muscato d'Asti would be worth a shot. Although I'm willing to bet one of my favorite limbs that these fancy-shmancy wines are not among the 'colors' Hooters carries.

In the real world, the canidates of possible pairing wines are more common. Think Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Cab, Zin, Pinot Noir, Syrah, etc.... I wish I would have checked out the selection at the bar. I will next time for sure. In the meantime, I can only speculate on what would be the perfect choice of wines I can easily find, then try out my theory at home with the frozen wings in my freezer.

I love the idea of a crisp COLD white, with a little sweetness and tartness. I imagine carbonation would be too distracting on the tongue with all that heat going on from the wings. I'm a big fan of Riesling and bet it would be a winner. On the other hand, I worry that the lighter flavor of the white wine would get lost in the strong, spicy flavor of the wings mixed with the richness of the dressing I tend to drown mine in. I love Zin with just about anything - yes, even chicken - and imagine that a rich, jammy Old Vine Zin would make for a zingy pairing, and would be a completely different wing/wine experience than the Riesling.

So I will follow my favorite wine-related rule: When in doubt, try them all! Stay tuned for how this theory all pans out...