Archive for the 'Food Pairing' Category

Thank you to everyone who entered our Montana Master Grillers Contest! We received some great responses from all across the country from readers like you. Our grand prize was for one lucky reader to win a three-night stay for two at Montana’s The Resort at Paws Up this Memorial Day weekend and attend, quite possibly, the best wine and barbeque event of the year – Montana Master Grillers. Co-sponsored by Wine Enthusiast and Double Ranch, this event will feature lunches and dinners prepared by some of the world’s top chefs in this premier culinary-filled weekend.

Without further ado, we’re happy to announce Clive Berkman as our lucky winner! Clive is a Chef with his own blog, Cooking With Clive For his wine and BBQ pairing, he told us “My favorite style of wine to pair with BBQ is a dry sparkling rosé. Although Grenache, Zinfandel and Syrah work well I find the sweetness and body of some BBQs tend to take away from a great match. With the sparkling it stands up to the body and the crispness and bubbles perfect the palate for another bite.”  Congratulations to Clive, and we hope you have an amazing weekend in Montana this May!

As a Thank You to everyone who entered, here are some of our favorite answers as we asked you all, “What is your favorite wine & BBQ pairing?” Please be warned: you may find yourself salivating from some of the mouthwatering pairings below!
“My recipe for grilled pork tenderloin stuffed with Point Reyes blue cheese drizzled with a blackberry-syrah sauce served next to the campfire outside of my RV.”
-    Nancy

“Ground Lamb soaked with my favorite red wine (Stonestreet Monument Ridge) lightly seasoned, plus sautéed onions, topped with blue cheese on a toasted ciabatta roll served with the same wine.”
-    Jaime
“Grilled lemon citrus chicken and a crisp sauvignon blanc - a perfect combination in the summertime!”
-    Crista

“Lamb chops seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary and olive oil, then served with key lime jelly for dipping, along with sides of home fried purple potatoes and mashed spaghetti squash. The wine pairing would be a 2005 Morey-Saint Denis.“
-    James

“The BBQ:  thick cut (2″) antelope backstraps (grass and grain fed critters, not sagebrush eaters) marinated in Veri Veri Teriyaki , grilled hot and fast to a warm, red, juicy interior. Seasoned with fresh ground pepper and salt to taste.”
-    John

“2010 Venge Scout’s Honor Proprietary Red with Grilled Top Sirloin of Lamb with a raspberry cherry chutney.”
-    Dinah

“Copper River Salmon drizzled in real Maple Syrup, on Cedar Plank, with a 2009 Cinder Winery Tempranillo.”
-    Julie

By far the most popular pairing we received, was pork and Zinfandel. We’re sensing a trend!

Feel free to share your favorite pairings below, if you haven’t already. Cheers!

During summer’s hottest months, it’s tempting to stick to whites and rosés. Even the most insipid examples can be chilled to within a few degrees of freezing and provide simple icy refreshment.

But many reds are fated to be left slumbering in the cellar, waiting for cool temperatures to return, and rightfully so. The mere idea of trying to keep a bottle of 1982 Grand-Puy-Lacoste from getting too warm at a picnic or from having its sediment stirred up while bringing it to the beach is daunting. The thought of a big, beefy, alcoholic red at the end of a long day becomes unappealing when the mercury is over 80°F or so and the humidity is hanging thick in the air.

Still, there’s no need to let the hot, humid weather completely dampen your enthusiasm for red wines. For inveterate–or even just occasional–red-wine drinkers, here are a few suggestions that will allow you to scratch that itch while keeping your cool.

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“This is an interesting wine,” said the wine steward as he poured the bruised-looking white into our glasses. “I think you’ll find it….meaty,” he said, a wobbly sales pitch at best.

Everyone at the table looked at each other with sly, faintly amused alarm. That word: interesting. When someone describes a book, a movie, a lecture as merely interesting, it usually indicates a colorless, banal experience. With wine or food, though, the word can signal something ghastly or wonderful or both; a love it or hate it experience; a discovery at least.

I was about to have it all.

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I’ve sat by (mostly) quietly this week while listening to people complain about Valentine’s Day. It’s standard fare for the holiday: people either go gaga for it or completely despise the thought of it. When I was younger, it seemed clear that most of the people who didn’t share the joy were simply jealous because they were alone, and vice-versa those who treated it like the most important day on Earth were usually madly in love. Now, as I converse with friends, coworkers and colleagues alike, I find that those lines are, and probably always were, blurred.

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I’m not talking about Beer Pong or Quarters, or any other collegiate drinking games. It’s football season again. Gridiron, for those of you outside North America, who might think I am referencing a sport played with a round ball.

Since I live outside my favorite team’s television coverage area, I have to subscribe to DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket so that I can watch every minute of the Buffalo Bills‘ efforts on Sunday afternoons. And since I coach my son’s travel soccer team, which also plays its games on Sunday afternoons, I also have to record the football games to watch them in the evening–and avoid hearing or reading the outcome in the meantime. The result is that during the season, Sunday evenings in our house turn into their own little ritual, complete with food and drink.

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Here’s a cure for your Monday blues… today marks the beginning of the annual American Craft Beer Week, taking place across the country from May 17th to 23rd. Organized by the Brewers Association, the week-long festivities were designed to celebrate small and independent craft brewers from across the nation, promoting the spirit and value of America’s craft beer scene. The week became the largest national effort focusing on domestic craft brewers in 2006, and remains so even to this very day.

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A pizza revolution has taken over New York and is quickly moving to the West coast and surely, everywhere in between. As the second-best-known pizza town (the boot across the pond being the first), New York has its share of historic pie stations, but there are new kids in town throwing the establishment off kilter.

With impeccably thin crusts, blistery surfaces and carefully-sourced toppings, artisanal pizza demands wine beyond basic, fruity reds. Pair this perfect pizza with a wine you want to shine, rather than a simple quaffer. Extra thought can take your bite from “Just OK” to the next level, like the pairing nirvana I recently experienced at artisanal pizza pioneer: Franny’s in Brooklyn.

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The general consensus in the wine world is that wines with a bit of sweetness and a hint of spice pair best with Chinese food. Semi-dry Riesling, Gewürztraminer and sparkling wines are mentioned most often, and I agree. If I’m not drinking beer, a sleek, off-dry Riesling is my go-to quaff for that fare. The sweetness complements the spice in the dishes but also, if you think about it, the sweetness: many of the sauces used in American-style Chinese food are slightly sweet. So there you go.

But when I mentioned that my wife and I annually join as many as ten other couples for a Chinese New Years banquet on Mott Street in New York’s Chinatown, a colleague suggested I think about Amarone; its raisiny accent and plum flavors might be an excellent match for Peking duck served with a plum sauce. I had my doubts; Amarones can be tannic and that is definitely not what you want with spicy food. But I was curious if it would work.

I leave it to you to explore this pairing, because it didn’t happen for me.

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I’ve been contemplating all week what to drink for Valentine’s Day this year. Sure, sure, typically most people go to their favorite retailers in search of a sparkler or some sort, but if that’s not your bag (which, typically, bubbly is not mine) then where to turn? A lush, rich red wine? A decadent, buttery, full-bodied white? A dry, Champagne-esque bière brut á-la-DeuS? Decisions, decisions!

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Last year, I wrote a blog called “Without Beer … Would We Be Celebrating Thanksgiving?” While no one knows for certain the validity of the claim that without beer (or the need for it) we might not be celebrating Thanksgiving on the day that we do, the main point of the blog remains a valid one: do as the Pilgrims and celebrate with some brews!

This year, instead of providing you with some more recommendations of my own (regardless of how fabulous they are), I decided to reach out to some of my favorite beer authorities to see what frothy goodness they like to recommend for the big Turkey Day feast.

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