Wine and Food Pairing

One of the greatest joys of drinking wine is pairing it with specific foods. The combination of food and wine enhances the taste of both. I find nothing more satisfying than researching which wine may go perfectly with a meal. I'm especially heartened by the success of getting it just right for Thanksgiving Dinner or a Memorial Day barbecue. Cheese is especially good for combining. It's no mistake that wine and cheese have become mainstays in our repasts.

The problem for most of us confronted with the task of combining food and wine is to decide exactly which wine may go with that special meal we are planning. Pairing food and wine seems to bring a high level of anxiety to those burdened with getting it right. The question I am asked most is "What do I serve with...?" A common response from experts is that there are no rules. Go with what you like. Well, this postmodern response has some truth to it. But it expresses the sentiment that all is chaos and that there are no rules to follow. This is far from the truth. There are clearly helpful guidelines that can be followed that make it easier to enjoy both wine and food.

I have found a helpful video that very quickly and precisely identifies the basics of wine and food pairing. The video comes from Everything Wine which is the largest wine store in British Columbia. I quote from their YouTube page explaining that Everything Wine "is BC's largest wine store with locations in North Vancouver and Langford. Everything Wine is an upscale, service-oriented wine warehouse that focuses on wine discovery in a stylish environment. With over 3,000 domestic and international wines, a Vintages premium room, wine lessons and a tasting bar open everyday from 2pm-6pm, this one-stop shop upholds its name Everything Wine."



I hope this video was helpful. Here are a few good web sites that address the issue of wine and food. Good luck and have fun.

WineIntro
Food and Wine Pairing Guide
GourmetSleuth

If you have any questions about your wine and food pairing don't hesitate to ask. Keep in mind that this is not a competition. The object is to enjoy the pleasure of drinking wine and eating food.

Salute!

Christmas Fish and a French Sancerre

Christmas Eve always means seven fishes at the Oliva's. For as far back as I can remember we have been keeping this Italian tradition. Why seven fishes? It's unclear why seven fishes rather than any other number but many feel the number seven represents the seven sacraments of the Church or possibly the seven days of creation in the Book of Genesis. Whatever the reason, it's a great way to celebrate Christmas Eve with the family. As you can see from the photo, one of the dishes was a beautiful bowl of steamed muscles in a red sauce. To compliment the muscles, I served a 2006 Benton Lane Pinot Noir. I had served this at Thanksgiving with a tremendous result. See my past post. This 2006 Pinot is a particularly good vintage in that the growing season in Oregon was extremely hot. This added an amazing lushness and depth to this already excellent wine.

The next dish Mary served was a large bowl of vermicelli and home made clam sauce. To go with this, I served a French Eric Montintin 2007 Sancerre . I didn't go with our usual New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I wanted to test Eric's last post in which he highly recommended the French Sancerres over the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. We were all happy we followed Eric's advice. Dave's fiance, Angela, said she "had never tasted a wine quite like this." Mary agreed that it was superb. It had a strong but not overwhelming bouquet of citrus with a pleasing color and a smooth, well-balanced body. It was dry and had citrus hints (mostly grapefruit to my taste)up front with a long and pleasing finish. The rest of the meal consisted of Alaskan Salmon, Fillets of Sole, Shrimp, and Crab and Cod cakes. We unanimously stayed with the Sancerre! A testament to its superior quality.

Christmas Eve dinner was a great success thanks to Mary's superb culinary talents, Eric's wine suggestions and great company. To learn more about Sancerre go to this site: The New York Times.

According to the Novovino Wine Company "Eric Montintin Domaine is located in the small town of Savigny-en-Sancerre, just 10 km north from Sancerre town. Eric started very small 10 years ago after returning from s stint as a wine buyer at a UK wine merchant. Today he owns a small 1.5 hectares vineyard in Sancerre and a couple more in Quincy and Menetou Salon. His Sancerre vineyard is entirely farmed organically and every grape from that vineyard was picked per hand."

Thanks Eric and on to New Year's Eve!

Bob