I have a confession….I think I’m a fried chicken addict. Because of this “issue”, I don’t eat it very often and I sure don’t cook it. I tried once and I was scrubbing the kitchen for 2 days trying to get the grease and burnt smell out.

When I lived in South Carolina I became a Bojangles nut (bojangles.com). I fell in love with their Cajun spices and dirty rice with gravy. Unfortunately, in Texas we don’t have any so we go to Popeyes (www.popeyes.com). It’s just not the same, but it’s as close as I can get for fried, fast-food chicken.

So since I did a taste comparison with Babes fried chicken (www.babeschicken.com)and Pinot Noir a couple of weeks ago (both chicken & wine were primo). I decided to elevate the quality of the Popeyes chicken with two of my favorite white wines that you will find on my wine rack.

The first wine is produced at Times Ten Cellars (www.timestencellars.com)right here in Dallas. It is a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.The grapes came from Lake County just North of Napa, California. I got it at the winery but I don’t remember what I paid. The smell is grass, hay, apples with a little lime. The taste is citrus,a little green herb, zesty and refreshing.

The  second was 2009 Conundrum (conundrumwine.com). This wine is from California. The grapes are sourced from different vineyards and it is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier and Muscat. I got it for around $18 at a local grocery store. The smell is Honeysuckle, plum, peach, hibiscus, green apple. The taste is sort of two-fold. At first you get lots of orchard fruits and honey, but then as it passes over your palate it becomes more citrus, light floral with a little mineral. It has a bit of an oily, butter texture too.

I chose the mild chicken dinner because I wanted to compare it to my experience at Babes. Along with the chicken, I got the dirty rice and a biscuit.

The chicken was meaty, a little salty with very little herb flavors. The Sauvignon Blanc actually was very nice with the chicken and it even gave it some zest and cleansed my palate so it was very refreshing.The Conundrum didn’t do so well. This is a very rich wine and the chicken was over-powered. I thought I was eating meat wrapped in flowers and butter.

The dirty rice was spicy and very herbal. The Sauvignon Blanc remained refreshing and the spiciness of the rice did not change the wine. The Conundrum was better with the spicy rice and made it a little milder.

The biscuit was buttery and a little salty. The Sauvignon Blanc complimented it very well. The Conundrum again over-powered the bread. I forgot I was even eating the bread.

Overall, the Sauvignon Blanc was a perfect companion.

The Conundrum is such a rich, exotic wine that it needs big flavors from food. Try it with Mexican or Asian foods or maybe grilled pork chops with a balsamic glaze.