A Taste of the Wine Country

Volumes have been written about how to create the perfect pairing of food and wine, but you can’t taste a book. Here are a few suggestions and adventurous pairings to get you started:

Match the weight and texture of the food with the weight and texture of the wine.  Generally, lighter wines such as Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir pair better with lighter foods such as light seafood and poultry. Richer, heavier wines such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon need foods of equal weight—think lamb and Cabernet. In other words, maybe that Australian Shiraz with Dover Sole won’t be the best pairing.

Make sure that if the food is sweet, the wine is sweeter. The sugar content in a dish will lessen the perceived sweetness in the wine, so the wine you choose should be sweeter than the dish.

Keep tannic and high-alcohol wines away from really spicy foods. Try some spicy Thai curry with a big Zinfandel or Barolo and taste what happens: the spice intensifies the perception of the tannins and alcohol. Not a pleasant thing.

When in doubt, back off on the alcohol and the oak.  When faced with a tricky pairing, whether the dish is spicy, highly seasoned, salty, smoked, or if there’s a lot of acid in the preparation, find a wine lower in alcohol and lighter in tannin and oak treatment. You’ll have a much more successful pairing.

PERFECT PAIRINGS
Goat cheese with Sauvignon Blanc. Specifically, Chevre with Sancerre. The two were made for each other (and right by each other – check a map). Regional food with regional wine often works very well and this is a great example.

Tocai Friulano with cured meats. Dry to off-dry Riesling works great here, too. The clean crispness of these lighter, pure whites works perfectly with the salty, cured nature of salumi. Quality Lambrusco works well, too. It’s a great counter to the red wine-with-meat mentality.

Buttered popcorn and Champagne. Sure, Champagne, which is naturally high in acid, goes well with almost everything—especially fatty, salty, and fried foods. This pairing gives you two out of the three. And no skimping on the butter.

Riesling and smoked trout. Choose an Alsatian or German Riesling and you’ll have a classic pairing.

Burgers and Côtes-du-Rhône. This affordable red coiff with a jammy, spicy flavor is a perfect foil to a juicy beef burger.

German Riesling and Asian food. A good off-dry German Riesling works wonderfully with spicy Asian cuisine, sushi and sashimi.

Oregon or Alsatian Pinot Gris and salmon. Whether the fish is baked, grilled, pan-fried, smoked or poached, this is a great match.

Peaches and Moscato d’Asti. The off-dry, fresh and fizzy (and low in alcohol) Moscato is beautiful with a bowl of fresh peaches.

SETTING THE SCENE
The following wine service essentials will ensure that you and your guests get the ultimate enjoyment from your wine.

Glassware – Proper glassware is key. Don’t worry about spending thousands on myriad glasses specifically designed for every grape on the planet, but ensure that you have good-quality sparkling (none of those Marie Antoinette-style glasses), and red and white ‘multi-purpose’ glasses available. Riedel, Schott-Zwiesel and Spiegelau all make great glassware. And don’t forget that they should be clean and odorless – your wine will thank you.

Decanters – Fun to have, and a necessity if you’re serving wine that contains sediment.  Young reds will benefit from a little time in a decanter as well and, to be honest, the show is always a welcome addition to any party.

Ice buckets – An often forgotten, or at least neglected, item in almost everyone’s wine closet. If you serve sparkling wine with any regularity, invest in a nice one. After all, would you serve caviar on a plastic plate?

Wine – Can’t forget this one. Price isn’t everything, but the reality is that there aren’t a lot of good $3 bottles out there. Find a wine merchant who will take the time to talk to you, discover what you like and don’t like and offer intelligent food and wine pairing suggestions in several price ranges. Remember, good wine is the wine you enjoy, but tastes change as we’re exposed to more diverse options. In other words, don’t be afraid to experiment. There’s a lot of great wine out there and a good merchant will be an invaluable guide.

SERVICE TIPS
Serve wine at its proper temperature.  Too many of us serve whites too cold and reds too warm, which really changes the flavor (and does a disservice to the winemaker who went through all of that trouble to make a great wine). Too cold and the wine’s flavors are masked, too warm and the wine’s flavors can become a bit volatile and taste out of balance. The following are easy temperature guidelines to ensure maximum enjoyment from every bottle:

Sherries (and yes, they are making a comeback) – Dry: 50-55°; Medium to sweet: 60-65°F

Light Whites, Sweet Whites, Sparkling Wines and Roses – 45-50°F

Heavy White Wines, Lighter Red Wines – 50-55°F

Heavy and Aged Red Wines – 60-65°F

Don’t over-pour.  Swirling a wine exposes it to the air, releasing its aromas (remember, the olfactory sense accounts for approximately 75 percent of what we taste). Pour too much into the glass and you’ll find that you can’t swirl without spilling. A few ounces are sufficient to take full advantage of the glassware. Pouring a proper portion also ensures that your white wine won’t get too warm before you can finish the glass. A good general rule is to never fill the glass more than half-full, although a one-third full pour is much more civilized.

Glasses.  Once again, proper glasses, clean and enough for everyone, are essential to any wine function.

Order of service.  Traditionally, serve white before red, light before heavy, dry before sweet and young before old. But if you’re starting the evening with foie gras, no one will complain if you start with a little Sauternes.

HOW MUCH WINE DO WE NEED?
As consumption varies from person to person, this can get a bit tricky. Figure about two glasses per person during the first hour—remember, there are six, four-ounce pours per bottle—and one glass per person per hour thereafter. Generally, for an evening function, you can count on each guest consuming three to four, four-ounce glasses. This formula can easily be adjusted to fit the thirst of your friends.