Matching wine with Asian cuisine has always been an ambitious undertaking.
Perhaps that's why it took "a pommie army officer and an Aussie surfer dude" to pull off a clever winemaking and marketing stunt in one.
Aja (pronounced 'Asia') wine comes in two forms (for now): a low alcohol lightly sparkling Moscato blush and a normal-strength crisp, citrusy white blend - both blended to enhnace the sometimes fine flavours of Asian foods without overpowering them as some reds, Chardonnays or Sauvignon Blancs can do.
Aja Wines is the brainchild of David Mulham and Mark Silcocks, two guys who love wine and Asian food. Silcocks is the ex army captain who joined ad agency JWT London before migrating to Sydney in 1992. Mulham is a Sydney marketing guru who has worked with the Roche family's Tempus Two winery, where Aja is made.
It's a new label, launched late this year in time for summer (stockists can be found at
www.ajawines.com.au).
The concept was hatched over a dinner with friends. The duo concluded that popular wine varietals simply don't work with more delicate Asian flavours, or their high tannin content left a "metallic tanginess" when combined with overtly spicy food. Chardonnay ended up tasting bitter; Sauvignon Blanc, they felt, was just too acidic and stringent. The only varietals that seemed to work were either too hard to find, too expensive or poorly made.
The pair seem coy about precisely what grape varieties have gone into their creation, other than to say most of the grapes come from the Hunter Valley. Aja has a "crisp citrus finish" to go with the fragrant spicy flavours of Asian cuisine and provide the perfect accompaniment.
Blush was produced for diners who prefer reds over whites. Reds, they say, don't go well with Asian food (I'd argue a good Pinot Noir is a common exception, but largely they're right).
AllEatenUp tongue-tested both blends with some Thai food - and encouraged the Thai staff to offer their opinion as well.
Of the two bottles, the Aja Blush is the more ambitious. It's refreshingly effervescent with a slightly sweet after taste but not at all lolly water. Our Thai friends likened the taste to Spy wine cooler which probably won't be received as the compliment intended. There was a unanimous conclusion the blush would be embraced more by women than by red-leaning blokes. The concept of a bubbly with food is brave - but with a fresh pad Thai it went down well!
The white is by far the more mainstream of the two: considerably more complex, fresh and zesty, and difficult for anyone other than a master of wine to define its 'secret' varietal mix. Some traditionalist wine purchasers may hesitate at the $20 recommended retail price tag and the brand's lack of pedigree (hence us pointing out the Tempus Two link). But the fact this drop has been picked up by the likes of Longrain, Rambutan, Zaaffran and Blue Ginger underscores our conclusion that skeptics should take the risk! If ever there was a wine to complement chilli, this would have to be it.
Finally, we're not fully convinced there isn't a red wine blend to complement Asian food. Given the success of their first two efforts, we'd encourage Silcocks and Mulham to give it a try!