5 best food-pairing wine you’re missing

By Harold Camaya. Wine-food pairing. Think of wine and the one thing that immediately strikes you is what food would pair well with which wine! As they say, finding the right wine with the right food is a match made in heaven! The age-old rules defined for drinking wine are simple: red wine goes with red meat, white wine goes with white meat, and rosé is good for the summer. However, not everyone is a non-vegetarian. Or maybe you’re simply bored with basic wine pairing rules and want to try out something new and exciting! Well, why not?! A good choice can raise your experience from enjoyable to memorable. So here we will list out for you a few unconventional food-pairing wines which you would like to try out! Pairings: 1. Red wine surprise White wine pairs very well with chicken. However, that does not mean you should not try red wine with chicken! Think Burgundy or chilled Bandol next time you want to get a bit adventurous. According to Sommelier Victoria James from Cote, a Michelin star Korean steakhouse in New York, you could also pair fish with red wine. She believes that white wine goes well with fish because the grapes are low in tannins, which typically result in bitter or sharp characteristics in wine. But we also have similar characteristics exhibited by low-tannin options like Champagne, rosé, and reds from grapes like Pinot Noir, Grenache, and Rossese. So you could take a break from your regular whites and try one of these to get a refreshing change in your meal. Surprisingly, red wine is also a...

10 Cardinal Rules for Great Wine and Food Pairings

By Ann Hawkins. 10 Cardinal Rules for Great Wine and Food Pairings: Pairing wine with your favorite foods can be one of the most blissful combinations ever. A sumptuous meal with your favorite wine- What’s better! Though we may have tried combining the two of them, it may not turn out to be that good if we don’t know the best ways to do so. If you don’t practice the right ways, it can even end up ruining your entire evening. But if you’re doing it right, then bingo!. Yes, there are some cardinal rules to actually bring out the best flavors of the two. To make it easier for you, we are enlisting down a few rules to help you out with the best tips for combining food and wine. 1. Match the quality One of the most important things that you have to consider while pairing the two of them is to see if the qualities of the two match. An exquisite dish works best with superior wines on special occasions. On the other hand, matching normal everyday dishes can work well with simple wines on a daily basis. 2. Fight fat Fat is what gives the meat its flavor but when you consume it with wine, you should always consider it and neutralise it.You should always go for a wine that has a high tannin or acid content in it. When you eat light dishes, go for wines with higher acidity like Riesling and Pinot Noir. On the other hand, when you eat heavy dishes, go for wines with lower acid content in them like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. 3. Regional...

3 Traits Of Wine That Age Well

By Katherine Turner. We have often heard people appreciating drinking an aged wine as vintage bottles are preferred over newer ones. Worldwide, old wines are sold for extraordinary prices. There is an element of fascination associated with it. It is also true that an aged wine has interesting flavors and textures that can’t be experienced with a young wine. A wine ages when it is stored in a dark, cool place for several years, allowing it to improve as it sits in its bottle. There are various factors which determine the aging of wine. Apart from a few traits of wine itself, the storage method, bottle, the variety of the grape, region of the vineyard, winemaking style and the cork also contribute in this process. The wine quality also depends on the conditions that the bottle of the wine is kept in. Interestingly, 99% of wines are meant to be consumed within 5 years of its manufacture. This indicates that most of the wines are consumed young worldwide. The complexity of wines has interested man for years. Wine experts rely on their past experiences to understand what ages a wine well. Factors which determine the aging of wine: 1) Tannin They are the textural component in wine which makes it dry. Tannins are responsible for the astringency and the bitterness of red wine, which often confuses wine lovers who are always ready to toast their glasses. Tannins in wine come from stems, seeds, skins of grapes. The extraction largely depends on the winemaking process that is being followed. Few tannins also come from barrels used to age wine, especially new ones. The chemical...

Pairing Wine and Chocolate

This Pairing Wine and Chocolate post is original from ProFlowers. Pairing wine and chocolate can be a contentious point for wine connoisseurs. The rich, bold tastes of both makes marrying them difficult. In order to make sure you can highlight accents of the wine as well as the chocolate, check out the shareable guide below. We also researched a few basic rules that will help simplify the complicated business of pairing tannins with tastes. Chocolate has an array of strong flavors including sweet, bitter, fruity and even acidic. These tastes do not pair well with a standard dry table wine. Regardless of how lovely a bottle of wine it is, after a bite of a rich chocolate bar it won’t have any flavor. Try a sweet dessert wine instead! The comparable richness will enhance the taste of both. Basic wine and chocolate pairing rules: The wine should be as sweet as the chocolate. Begin pairing by color. The darker the chocolate, the darker the wine. When possible, opt for a high quality chocolate bar. Consider texture as well as...

Pairing Italian Food: Pinot, Pasta and Parties – The cookbook to match your wine party

As some of you know, I’m from Barcelona. I still get goose pumps every time I listen Joan Manel Serrat’s song  ‘Mediterraneo’ which is an ode to the landscape and lifestyle around the Mediterranean Sea. So, when Pinot, Pasta, and Parties Italian cookbook arrived to my hands I opened it with a truly critical sense. I say to my friends that Catalan food resembles Italian food except for the fact that we don’t do pasta and our pizzas don’t have cheese (and by the way, this makes the conversation even more confusing). So, when I was reading the book, I checked the ingredients and cooking techniques to see if it has a real Mediterranean heritage… Or not. Conclusion: it does. Olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs and vegetables, tomato-based sauces and easy going desserts. This makes me think of my home and dying to try these meals! I imagine myself at a tiny table, eyes semi-closed to protect them from the bright sun over the Sea. The “Mare Nostrum” Sea. Dee Dee and Paul Sorvino wrote a book that transports you from their love story to the expertise of many years in the kitchen cooking for family and friends. An authentic Italian Cookbook! The book has menus with a full Italian set: aperitivo, antipasto, primi, secondi, contorni, insalta and dolce. And a bonus: Dee Dee offers a special cocktail in every chapter!. The good: you have plenty of recipes to match any occasion. From easy to more time consuming. From munchies with friends to dinner-to-impress your mother-in-law. The bad: though it has a great chapter describing the most famous Italian grape varieties, I missed...

Wine Regions

This post is a guide to the upcoming posts about wine regions. I’m working in the best way to display them, so, if when reading you find a better choice to present this idea, please, let me know. This is a world map showing the main wine producing areas: Wine regions fall under these 2 denominations: Old World, referring to wines produced in Europe New World, referring to wines produced outside Europe To learn more about the these regions, every click will bring you a step deeper in the hierarchic classification. As I produce them, I’ll add them to the list. To ease the search, in the box below you have them in alphabetical order following these tabs: By Country  1.FRANCE: ALSACE  –  2.USA: LODI  By Region 1.Alsace: ALSACE  –  2.California: LODI  By Appellation 1.ALSACE (France)  –  2.LODI, Central Valley, California...