Wine & Spirits - June 2021 - 15

Carla Arriola

Jim Yonkus

John Keife

GRANDE KREWE

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T C AV E A U N O L A

KEIFE & CO.

2305 Decatur St.
grandekrewe.com
G U M B O PA I R I N G : Ovum 2020
Oregon Big Salt $19.99

1226 S. White St.
theindependentnola.com
G U M B O PA I R I N G : Clos de la Roilette
2019 Fleurie $25

801 Howard Ave.
keifeandco.com

● Carla Arriola is one of four founding partners of Grande Krewe, a Marigny
retail shop they opened on Bastille Day in
2015; they now feature 1,500 selections. " For
gumbo, it's definitely all about the roux, " she
says. " And a darker one, with more body. It
showcases the spices and seasonings. So, I'm
looking for something that's not going to try
to be too big on its own next to all of that. "
That led Arriola to recommend Ovum's Big
Salt white, a riesling-gewurztraminer-pinot
blanc-early muscat blend, a crisp, lean,
mineral-tinged wine. " I don't want to compete against the flavor complexity in the
gumbo. The Big Salt is party-pleasing. Not
too dry, not too sweet. It won't walk over the
gumbo-it will complement all the different
proteins, whether it be shrimp, crab, etc. You
don't want anything to give you a funny taste
with all you have going on in the blast of that
gumbo. "
John Keife, who tends to prefer beer with
gumbo, found the Big Salt played " crisp and
beer-like " with the dish at Herbsaint. " It just
cleanses the palate. " For Greiwe the Ovum
was " playing against type. It's strengthening
the gumbo even if the wine is coming up a little bit shy. It's really accentuating the smoke
of the gumbo-one of those pairings that
makes you want to drink more of the wine. "

● Jim Yonkus was schooled in gumbo from
afar, by a co-worker in Nashville who hailed
from NOLA's Mid-City neighborhood and
earned the nickname Rouxstir for his gumbo
prowess. After Yonkus followed a job offer
to New Orleans 30 years ago, he later went
on to found The Independent Caveau in
Zion City in 2019. For gumbo, he says, " The
warm-weather aspect of where we are makes
me want to say rosé, especially cabernet franc
rosé. Or, if I'm going to do a red, something
with a lot of minerality and good acid to balance the equation. " His selection of the Fleurie was based on the wines' combination of
freshness and richness. " I want something
that's really fresh-fruited but also dense and
rich at the same time. "
For Worden, the Fleurie was his favorite
pairing among the six wines with Herbsaint's
gumbo. " It's a little less aromatic, a little
less forward [than the other Beaujolais], " he
found, " but that back end really stands up.
It's that finish that really makes it work with
the gumbo. More persistent, more length. "
Greiwe thought the combination turned
too salty- " the minerality pushes the salt in
the gumbo, " he said. While Fouss liked how
the wine cleaned the palate. " It's a pretty
wine on its own, " she said, " but with the
gumbo it just doesn't have the bigger characteristics to hold up. "

● John Keife opened his Central Business
District shop in 2012 with 3,000 selections,
mainly European. He grew up in south Louisiana, where gumbo is made with seafood,
calling for a lighter roux, a style he prefers
on warmer days. But he also enjoys a hearty
chicken-andouille gumbo in colder weather.
Either way, " Beer is my number one go-to
[for gumbo], I'm not going to lie. " But for
this project, he went with a white from
Alsace, saying, " I thought it was cool because
it has a little residual sugar-you've got the
spice and all the smokiness and the meat. "
Drawing a parallel to smoky sausages in
Alsace, he added, " smoky sausage with offdry Pinot Blanc is a nice contrast. "
And it worked for our tasters at Herbsaint.
It was the top choice in the lineup for Arriola:
" The gumbo brings out a bit of spiciness in
the wine. Which is what you want, because
it's also highlighting the spice in the gumbo. "
Worden also enjoyed it, saying, " I like the
sweetness with the smoky gumbo. I wasn't
sure how that was going to play, but it's a surprisingly good match-there's the soft textural feel of the wine to offset the spice. "
" That pairing's fun, " said Greiwe. " The
wine and gumbo shout each other down on
one level and open a new pathway in another
way. The sweetness completely clears the
smoke off your palate. They're kind of yin
and yang, they're not even trying to work
together. At old-school NOLA restaurants,
that's how all the pairings work, you just
go for maximum pleasure and don't worry
about how they go together. "

Rolly Gassmann 2017
Alsace Pinot Blanc $21

G U M B O PA I R I N G :

WINE & SPIRITS

JUNE 2021

http://www.grandekrewe.com http://www.theindependentnola.com http://www.keifeandco.com

Wine & Spirits - June 2021

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