Pairing Off: Chicken pot pie versus Albariño.

In this column we ask experts to help us pair wine with ordinary food.

America’s passion—or at least tolerance—for frozen chicken pot pie began at the dawn of the TV dinner age, when convenience mattered far more than, say, flavor.

The pre-fab pies remain a staple for a couple of pretty good reasons. Quality has improved quite a bit since Gilbert and Clarke Swanson introduced the product in 1951, for one. More importantly, from scratch chicken pot pies can take down even the most gifted and patient home cook.

As Tennessee chef and food writer Kevin Weeks warned on NPR, carrots (and the occasional potato) demand time. Meat and peas are anxious to finish up more rapidly. And even with frozen pies, the edge of the crust blackens long before the rest is done.

It’s enough to drive one to drink. So which wine will go best alongside a chicken pot pie, in this case from Marie Callender's?

“Oh, man,” says Ashlee Jansen, manager of Carmel Valley’s The Wine House, mental gears turning. “There’s carrots, peas, chicken—it’s a mouthful.”

Add the richness of sauce and the toasty, potentially blackened crust and a ready dish becomes a pairing challenge.

Well, kinda.

“I wouldn’t go red,” Jansen advises. “You want something high in acidity.”

There are options, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc. A Chardonnay raised in stainless steel is a possibility. But Jansen landed on the 2019 Albariño from Chesebro.

“I believe it,” says Dave Bernard, reaching for one of the five remaining bottles at Chesebro’s Carmel Valley tasting room (they also pour it at The Wine House). “It’s very popular.”

The wine is buoyant and refreshing on the nose, with a breeze of fresh fruit drifting over a steady minerality and a gentle toss of petals. A sip reveals a pleasantly brash vintage—juicy nectarine and pear, the sharp peel of citrus, bitter pith, saltgrass and more mellow touches of melon and beeswax.

With only modest residual sugars to whoa it down, the Chesebro Albariño is bright and piercing enough to welcome a pot pie pulled from the oven after more than an hour (which conveniently leaves plenty of time for tasting).

Wine and pie take turns in this pairing, with neither willing to cooperate. Pick up a fork and its Marie Callender’s turn, with hunks of creamy chicken and pops of earthy sweetness from the vegetables. Take a sip and the wine flows over your palate, just as fruity and nuanced as ever.

It’s a nice trade off. The heaviness of the pot pie filling doesn’t linger, chased off by the wine’s acidity. The Albariño remains crisp. If affected at all, it’s in a more vocal call of pith and a more reserved salinity.

Other Albariños will likely play as well with Marie Callender’s chicken pot pie. Ian Brand produces a standout version under his La Marea label. And the Central Coast terroir resembles the temperament of Spain's Rias Baixas region, so there are Albariños aplenty.

Except, perhaps, for the dwindling supply on the shelves at Chesebro.