One of the things that intimidates people about wine is the aspect of pairing. What do I pair with my dinner tonight? This also boggles young people because they do more survival cooking that chef category meals at home. Basic pastas, chicken, or stir frys. When I was in a wine course, one of our assignmants was to figure out what paired well with a Dick's hamburger and fries. Crazy right? No, not so much. The answer was champagne or sparkling wine. The bubbles and acidity cut the grease and taste yummy together. So, this got me thinking, what pairs with the foods we love? Fried chicken, takeout chinese, sandwiches etc. The basic rule of thumb is if the food is spicy, pick a sweet wine like Riesling or Gewurtraminer. If the food is sweet pick a spicy red like Grenache. If the food is light pick something light bodied, so the wine doesnt over power the food. And vice versa for heavy foods. But this is by no means a rule of thumb. I learned from a Sommelier to pair wine you like with foods you like. If you hate spicy wines, don't feel obligated to pair it with your dinner. Pick a wine based on other attributes. Maybe its a citrus dish, so you pair a wine with citrus flavors. Okay, I'll slow down. If wine pairing scares you I don't know if I'm helping right now. Every month I will making a basic wine and food pairing suggestion so we can get our feet wet together.
No comments:
Post a Comment