Many numbers have been dished out in connection with Sunday's Super Bowl. Such as: price of a 30-second TV spot ($5-million (U.S.)); the Atlanta Falcons' league-leading scoring average (33.8 points per game); expected duration of Lady Gaga's half-time performance (12 minutes, give or take); the number of times New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has played golf with his buddy Donald Trump ("many, many," the player reportedly said when grilled about his support for the President).
I found none as impressive as this from the Washington-based National Chicken Council, though: Americans are projected to consume 1.33 billion chicken wings on championship day. That's billion with a "b," or four for every man, woman and child, up 2 per cent from last year. Laid end to end, those wings would be enough to circle the Earth almost three times, according to the council.
I suspect Canada's per capita number will fall short of that figure, but it would likely be in the ballpark. We are a football nation, too, and many of us are partial to deep-fried or oven-roasted wings. I plan to do my part with the Buffalo-style variety, slathered in hot red sauce, to keep the numbers up.
Most of those appendages will get washed down with soft drinks or, sadly, flavour-impaired light industrial lagers, which account for more than 90 per cent of game-day beer consumption. So will most other classic staples of the Super Bowl smorgasbord, like pizza (4 million pies), potato chips (11.2 million pounds), and nachos with guacamole (about 280 million avocados).
We could do better. Craft beer is fine, no question. So is wine, though, and it comes with added advantages, among them fewer restroom breaks, so you'll be less likely to miss amazing turnovers, Gaga's acrobatics or those other big Super Bowl attractions of recent years, commercials. Wine, contrary to tailgate-party "wisdom," also works better with wings (see below). And it undoubtedly would better elevate many less-traditional dishes increasingly found at Super Bowl gatherings in homes and upscale restaurants, like truffled macaroni and cheese and pulled pork sliders. Herewith, a few junk-food, and not-so-junky-food, pairing suggestions, including some nerdy European choices out of left field, followed, for what it's worth, by my amateur game-day prediction.
Spicy chicken wings: Watery light beer extinguishes the fire for mere seconds, then the heat reignites. All light lager does in the end is spread the flames around your palate. Spicy-hot food is best tamed by cooling fruit and mouthwatering acidity, as in wine, not beer. Consider such richly fruited styles as zinfandel, shiraz or baco noir. Or this offbeat, syrupy-ripe and subtly sweet red, San Marzano Vindoro Negroamaro 2012 from southern Italy (score: 89; $18.95 in Ontario).
Plain potato chips: Make it sparkling wine. Spend a lot on Champagne if you expect to take home the purse in the office pool Monday. Or save your cash with this Italian: Villa Sandi Prosecco Il Fresco (89; $14.45 in Ontario).
Nachos and salsa: Consider riesling, either dry or off-dry, or an aromatic white blend, such as Pfaff Special 2015, a mix of sylvaner and pinot blanc from Alsace (88; $13.95 in Ontario).
Popcorn: Unoaked or minimally oaked chardonnay. Sometimes inexpensive, pedestrian food can be the best showcase for a pricy, fine wine. La Chablisienne Grande Cuvée Chablis 1er Cru 2014 (92; $29.95 in Ontario, $36.99 in British Columbia, $29.05 in Quebec) is a cool-climate, medium-bodied French chardonnay with chewy density and tangy, saline energy.
Pizza: It depends on the toppings, but you're often safe with a sangiovese-based red, such as Chianti, or an inexpensive montepulciano d'Abruzzo, to name two of many possibilities. That said, a dry white is, in my opinion, equally suitable, perhaps more flexible. That includes inexpensive pinot grigio – the Miller Lite of wine – but also more offbeat choices, such as Ponte Pellegrino Greco 2015 from the Campania region that surrounds the world pizza capital of Naples (88; $13.95 in Ontario).
Chili: So many possibilities, mostly big and red. Throw a luscious, ripe wine at this hearty, aromatic, spicy bowl of goodness. I've got two specific suggestions. For value, consider the smooth, sweet-jammy Santa Digna Reserva Syrah 2013 from Chile (88; $14.95 in Ontario). Or was that chili made with chopped sirloin? Then look for something dense but more serious, like D'Arenberg The Galvo Garage 2012 from Australia (91; $29.95 in Ontario, various prices in Alberta).
Pulled pork sliders: This is the pigskin that counts when I'm tuning into the Super Bowl, and the goal line is my mouth. Pinot noir is no match for the defensive tackle of most football fare, but pulled pork is an exception, particularly when it comes to jammy New World pinot. Here's a well-made example: Craftwork Pinot Noir 2013 from California (89; $24.95 in Ontario). On the white side, consider riesling. Or this steal from Austria: Rabl Langenlois Gruner Veltliner 2015 (91; $14.95 in Ontario).
Curry: A huge category. It may seem unfair to offer just one suggestion, but most curry-loving imbibers have long been insulting this pan-Asian category by choosing just one – and the completely wrong – accompanying beverage, watery lager. Here's a better bet: aromatic, oily viognier, such as Barone Montalto Collezione di Famiglia Viognier 2015 from Sicily (88; $15.95 in Ontario). Or try another aromatic white, such as pinot gris, gewürztraminer, torrontes or riesling from another region. Just ditch the lager.
Truffled mac and cheese: a rich, oaked chardonnay, such as Ironstone Chardonnay 2015 from California (89; $17.95 in Ontario), or, if you're feeling rich, a big white Burgundy, such as Meursault.
Sushi: Sauvignon blanc or almost any other dry, aromatic white. A superb, high-end offering from a popular New Zealand producer: Kim Crawford Small Parcels Spitfire Sauvignon Blanc 2016 (93; $24.95 in Ontario, $24.99 in British Columbia, various prices in Alberta, $25.99 in Manitoba, $27.79 in Nova Scotia). Awesome wine-geek bargain alternative: the Rabl mentioned under pulled-pork sliders above.
Who's going to win? According to the National Chicken Council, cities with higher sales of wings as a proportion of general grocery expenditures have won four of the past six Super Bowls. But the organization is making no calls on this game. The Falcons region of the South gobbles only slightly more wing tonnage than the Patriots country of the Northeast. But I'm biased. New England will win 25-22. Which is why I'll be uncorking a Lavau Vacqueyras 2014 from the Rhône (92; $25.95 in Ontario), a fine red foil for wings, chili and pulled pork and a perfect match for broiled falcon.