You know far more about pairing food and wine than you probably think. You know, for instance, that a big glass of dense, dark red wine isn’t going to look very refreshing on a 95 degree day. In fact, you’ll probably want to reach for a beer. So on those hot days, think light, crisp whites, like unoaked Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs. No doubt you’ve already chosen light foods.

Same thing goes for wintertime. If you’re starting dinner with a white wine, you might want to look toward richer whites, like toasty oaked Chardonnay or lush Rhones.

An easy way to think about what wines fit the climate is to think of what people drink in like climates. Summertime whites? Think of the Mediterranean. Wintertime reds? Think of northern Italy, and central and northern France. It’s not infallible, but it’s a good trigger when you’re feeling lost.

Guided by Vibe

This is a bit of a no-brainer: Match the wine to the vibe of the occasion. For instance, burgers and Grand Cru Bordeaux can be a wonderful match, especially if the burgers are served on bone china at a clothed table. In the backyard, fancy Bordeaux not only has the possibility of looking pretentious, but the wine will probably be wasted on people since the spread won’t feel like an occasion to pay much attention to what’s in your glass. Bulgarian Merlot might just be a better pick.

Weigh the Choices

You can answer many wine-pairing questions simply by asking yourself how weighty the dish is. Take a nice filet of sole with a butter sauce, for instance. How about a big, juicy Shiraz with that? I didn’t think so. The wine is going to knock that fish right out of the sea, not because it’s a red wine with white fish, but because the wine’s flavors are simply bigger, louder, more aggressive. How about a big, oaky Chardonnay? Better, but that’s still going to clobber the delicate sole. A wine as delicate and plain as the fish itself, like a crisp, unoaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, sounds far better.

There are very few rules in pairing wine and food, but this is one of them: Match the weight of the wine to that of the food. If the wine is too heavy, it will obliterate the dish; too light, and the dish will obliterate it. Give them each a fighting chance to be tasted, and you’re halfway there, or more.

Texture

We tend to think of wines as simply wet, but when you get down to it, some are smooth as silk; others are heavier, more like satin. Some are rough with sandpaper-like tannins; others use bubbles to more genteelly rough up the tongue.

Think of a food’s texture when you’re pairing it with wine, and ask yourself whether you’d like more of the same, or some point-counterpoint. This isn’t the sort of interaction that will ruin a pairing, but it might make it more interesting. For example, with a smooth, rich pate, which would you rather have—a sweet wine as smooth and rich as the spread, or a bubbly that will scrub it off? One isn’t more correct than the other; they’re just different pleasant effects.

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What wine for what food isn’t a question to worry to death; wine is supposed to add joy, not anxiety, to a meal. There also aren’t any rigid answers to the pairing question. Although wine lovers will often say that a certain wine will be “perfect” with some dish, it’s only a manner of speaking, a guess that says more about the style of wine than its exact tastes in combination with a dish.

But it’s worth learning a little about the basics of pairing food and wine because when you get the right wine with the right food together in the same place, the whole is greater than its parts. And that means more deliciousness, which is the whole point of all the wine study, right?

So, what’s the big deal about pairing wine? Why can’t you just put a good wine and good food together and expect that everything will work itself out? Well, you can, but the effect might not be the one you want. The food and wine might agree to get along but not really combine in any interesting way, or they might go at it in your mouth, the wine pummeling the food until you can’t taste it anymore, or the food knocking out the wine with a powerful punch of flavor. Not so pleasant, right?

Worse even, the wine could play a nasty trick and make the fish taste like metal, or the artichokes could take revenge on the Chardonnay and make it taste like dessert wine.

Dinner is no place for battles of any size, even small ones that play out in your mouth between wine and food, and a little learning can keep those battles to a minimum. In the best matches, wine enhances food, like a splash of lemon, a pinch of salt, or a tangy sauce that can bring out more and different flavors in a dish. Wine can be more exciting and interesting than any condiment, because wine brings its own delicious set of flavors and sensations to the table, and food can enhance these, too.

How do you keep the battles to a minimum and aim for perfection? Much of it is just common sense.

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I hope everyone had an amazing Easter. Easter is that time of year where you know spring is finally here and summer is just around the corner. This time of year I like to bring out more crisp refreshing wine for when I’m sitting out on my patio (if it gets warm enough).

Question: What does everyone get a lot of at Easter that goes perfectly with wine?

Answer: Chocolate!

Whether the basic milk chocolate or a bitter dark chocolate there’s always a wine to pair. There’s a pretty good guide on pairing chocolate and wine on About.com. For milk chocolate they suggest a Pinot Noir or a lighter Merlot. For the dark chocolate they suggest Zins and Cabs. And for white chocolate they recommend something bubbly.

I think a great idea for a dinner party is to have a chocolate sampler and wine sampler after dinner so everyone can mix and match and discover their favorite pairings.

If you have a friend that loves Chocolate I’d suggest buying then a Wine Club that comes with chocolate already paired. One that I’ve tried is: The Chocoholic – Wine and Chocolate Club Membership. Every month they deliver gourmet chocolates with the perfectly paired wine.

Well it’s time for me to get on with my day…

Happy Easter Everyone!
Wine Club Insider

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Portuguese wine is synonymous with its most famous export—Port, however there is an entire world of table wines outside of the sweet wines of the Port region. Perhaps because of the notoriety of Port, the vineyards of Portugal were more or less overlooked by winemakers outside of Portugal until recent history. This relative isolation has allowed many of the indigenous grapes of the region to thrive, giving the winemakers of Portugal a broad palette of grapes to use when creating their wines.

Vines came to Portugal almost 4,000 years ago, and winemaking has been steadily carrying on since then. When the Romans came they named the region Lusitania—the son of Bacchus, the god of wine. The British have historically been the main trading partner for the wines of Portugal, while their main interest has been in Port, there are many regions of Portugal that produce excellent wines. The most productive and well-known areas have been given special recognition by the government: Denomiacao de Origem Controlada (DOC), equivalent to the AC or DO of France and Spain, respectively. The bigger of these regions are the Dão and Bairrada, along with Vinho Verde, which has it’s own post.

Bairrada is a region near the center of the country that produces mostly red wines, along with some good sparkling wines. The name comes from the soils, “barra” means clay in Portuguese. The prominent grape in the area is the Baga, which has been compared to Nebbiolo (of Barolo, Italy) because of its significant amount of tannin and acid. The wines of Bairrada generally need aging, sometimes as much as 20 years, for those tannins and acids to calm down and be ready for drinking. Make sure to decant if you find a Bairrada on the younger side.

The Dão lies in the north central part of Portugal, along a great granite plateau, sheltered on three sides by mountains and nourished by the rivers Dão and Mondego. The geography here helps to regulate the climate giving a long, warm growing season. Much of the output of the area is red wines, principally from the grapes Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz. These reds are marked by lots of tannins and oak aging in new barrels. The grape Jaen is a local variety that makes a lighter, fruitier style of wine in the area.

Fine Wine, International Wine Bairrada, Dão, Douro, port, Portugal, Red Wine