Ah, yes… the holidays. The time when we say to ourselves “well, I’m going to eat a lot of food over Thanksgiving and Christmas anyway and it’s too cold to go outside and run/bike/whatever, so I’ll just pick up the working out thing come New Year’s.” But, it’s also that time of year when us winos wonder what to serve with those meals, or prescribe our best pairing if we think we got what it takes. However, to some there seems to be a right way and a wrong way to pair wines you like with food… much like after a corporate acquisition, there should be synergy where the resulting value will be greater than the sum of its parts. Yeah, that’s what they said when Turner bought AOL… but I digress.
I am no expert on wine pairings and chances are neither are you. Like you, I only know what I like to drink with my meal… what gives me pleasure and provides the best experience while consuming my meal. I am not looking for the perfect residual sugar/acid combination to counter the spice in Grandma’s casserole. Sure, if I am in a competition or specific setting deadset on determining a best pairing out of various options, I can give you my opinion of what tasted the best together – for me. As a matter of fact, a lot of us did just this with the recent Dirty South Wine Popeye’s chicken and wine pairing. But, you know what? Several of those wines, chosen by “experts” didn’t work for me, or others, at all. And, the results from all the participants were not unanimous either. No doubt, though, it was a blast and a lot of fun to experiment.
So, take wine-food pairings with a grain of salt and as suggestions only. And certainly don’t let anyone tell you a type of wine is just ridiculous to have with your Turkey and stuffing, suggesting that it just “doesn’t work.” If you want to learn how to really pair wine and food, take a class, become an Iron Chef, whatever. I’ll still have my Pinot Noir at the table come this Thursday, because it works for me.
Cheers!
