As always, a lovely clip, thank you. Here, 'down under' I think there is way less formality about the food/wine pairing. My wife like to drink red wine, so no matter what I cook for dinner, fish, meat, veg, vegan, she would like a glass of red wine with her dinner !! It is my duty to provide ! Tonight I made a 'Shepherd's Pie' from leftovers, and served it with a Maclaren Vale, preservative free Shiraz (El Toro Castrado, by Jock Harvey - exceptional) Salmon for example, is not a delicate fish - it is robust, oily, meaty, intense and can take big flavourings, so why not a straight Grenache from Barossa..(or Rhone for you Europeans) However, grilling a Dover Sole with a little butter and black pepper on the top until it begins to brown a little - I would drink the driest Riesling from Clare Valley (or Traben-Trarbach - especially Peter Mertes). Tomorrow I will make a mushroom risotto (traditional technique) and will serve with an excellent Pinot Noir from Languedoc (from Aldi) - it is outrageously good. Such is life down here. You must visit...... Phil
Sooo one night I made a roasted broccoli cheddar soup. Very thick using potatoes blended into the broth to thicken it up. I had a craving for wine while cooking, but only had a nice oaky Chardonnay I was given as a gift. I had planned to save it for a special meal, but decided my random Wednesday would be the special meal. It worked! Maybe because the char would have gone well with each component? Maybe because the soup wasn’t piping hot by the time I sat down to eat it?
Sauterne and chocolate cake! For me, chocolate desserts are so tough to pair with. But this does it for me. And looks cool too. ;-) On the savory side, Carmenere and green pepper and mushroom pizza is a fun one.
My two cents would be around powerful whites and red meats. An intense Sauvignon Blanc with a rare Chateaubriand, a full-bodied and fruity Chenin Blanc with any well-done steak, a Pinot Grigio with some heavily-seasoned thick steak, and Burgundy-style chardonnay that have skin contact (and the tannins that come with that) are perfect to enhance the flavour profile of red meats.
I personally, when it comes to medium or rare cooked meat, usually prefer some tannins in wine. But this is the wine world -> each of us sees and tastes things differently.
I have never faced any difficulties with pairing wine with hot soups. Furthermore, I find it a very good combination. It's just a matter of "which wine with which soup." Some of the soups I would even recommend to pair with full-bodied red wines. For example, I don't know any dry red wine, which is able to overpower Hungarian goulash prepared by my Mom😂. Red wine with fish... Tuna steak works well with Red Etna or Burgundy. I am also curious to try some red Burgundy with salmon ... In my opinion, it's always good to carry out experiments and try new things and combinations...
Excellent! I just bought two wines to pair with a seafood heavy tasting menu with friends, one a classic Krug Grande Cuvée (171 edition, can’t go wrong there), and the other a Clos Rougeard “Le Bourg” 2017 from Saumur Champigny in the Loire Valley, a cult Cabernet Franc. Now I like exploring red wine with fish, but I agree, it needs to be done with subtlety. Cabernet Franc usually is on the medium side in body with finer tannins than most red wines, so not the heaviest hitter. I think it should do very nicely for the more expressive courses and the meat main courses as a departure from the champagne, and you make me feel confident in this mindset😉
I am very sorry, but reading this comment, I am more interested in the Cabernet Franc rather the food and wine pairing! Your thoughts on this legendary producer? 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@NoSediment They are amazing. I had a chance to taste the 2012 with a friend a few years back but have since then been unable to find it in shops or online from any vintage. Smooth as silk on the palate, it’s like drinking water, and the flavor is hard to describe. I wouldn’t call it refreshing because this is a wine about smoothness and subtlety, but it is delicate and vivacious, if those words mean anything to you😂 Tasting notes are unripe berries for acidity and grilled meats for that savory, slightly smokey flavor as well with just a touch of sweetness to round things out. I have a question for you, though. Can franc and fish, I think it can work. I have seen it work with similar grape varietals. Your thoughts?
Your bonus point is the real gem!😋😎 I would add a few more through experience: 1) A long finish does not matter when it comes to food pairings. Sometimes, focusing on the food-wine pairing will take away from the attention needed to savory the duration of the wine's finish. 2) Strong-Flavored Fish calls for high acidity (Dry Riesling!) while benefiting from significant concentration of fruit (Provence Rosé). 3) The extent to pairing spicy food and wine really depends on individual tolerance to heat. As someone with moderately-high tolerance, the alcohol content (as opposed to a wine that is just plain "hot" of alcohol aroma) matters less when compared to the flavor pairing itself.
For me it's more important that the wine is good than how well it pairs with the food...if it's a huge mismatch I can always wait with the wine till the dish is finished :P
At first I read “Czech” and thought what are those..? But in all honesty I do not know what is Cheese doodles, but I am sure they taste good with Rhone! 🙌
One mistake I see often is pairing pinot noir with steak. I'll always point these people to sangiovese based wines since sangiovese is light and acidic but has stronger tannins to stand out to the meat.
When You look up the www there is a lot of suggestions that offer Pinot Noir with steak. 🥩 while it wouldn’t be my first choice, I also guess it would depend somewhat of the cut as well.. 🤔
Sometimes I just don't need to pair my food with wine, and never understood why people insist it must be done whenever food is served, and turn it into such an arduous task. Spicy foods and even hot soups do well with beer or plain old water. Sake often fits the meal instead of traditional wine, but overall I tend to enjoy wine with light snacks, cheeses, olives, etc.
I guess sometimes we like a bit of fuss and I agree, sometimes looking for that special pairing is simply too much. And in all honesty, it is so very individual for each person.
I've opened a non iconic producer's Brunello 2010 (decanted 2 hours ahead) with a casual take out meat heavy pizza and it was splendid. But I'm not sure if I will do that with a Salvioni, Cerbaiona, Stella Di Campalto, Valdicava Madonna Del Piano Riserva, or Poggio Di Sotto Riserva. I'll reserve that (no pun intended) for a restaurant I really enjoy that has a wide range of food for me to experiment with (salumi, antipasti, roasted bone marrow, white and red pizza, pasta with rich sauce, lamb, beef, duck and consider the sauces and accoutrements), and bonus points if they have a wide range of cheese or a chocolate dessert depending on the vintage I'm drinking. Also fancy isn't just molecular, there are varying grades. I think the key is if one is doing a tasting menu, then understand the versatility of the wine and its profiles and also the profiles of the restaurant and the skills/techniques applied to the food, to maximize the enjoyment. But sometimes I also see noveau riche buying unicorn producers of wines, corkaging them to places that don't match the setting (nor the food) and posting it as if they don't want to miss out (but they also never drink village level, unelss it were made by Coche or Leroy....). At some point, that's no longer a case of champagne with popcorn or truffle salt potato chips or a Premier Cru Sauternes with vanilla ice cream. Conversely, a well made lower priced small producer wine (even if significantly lower than the price of corkage), if paired correctly at a fancy restaurant, can be absolutely wonderful.
By no means I meant that fancy food was only synonym to molecular cuisine. Have been working on the floor as a somm for a long time, and when guest myself I usually choose single bottle (more often Champagne) for whole tasting menu. Not every where of course, but too often that tasting menu will be accompanied by wine offer that is made to reduce expenses, move slow moving labels and add odd products that not always pair well. But what I meant specifically in this video was not to challenge somms, but to offer a different perspective when pairing food and wine at home. You really don’t always need fancy food to pair with Your rare, for special occasions only, wine!
Great video! Agreed that soup is very hard. You're onto something with sherry- one of my favorite pairings is soup with aged Sercial Madeira. Another big surprise I had recently was shabu-shabu with Gravner orange wine- a fantastic match! Keep up the great content!
I know it sounds boring and outdated, but I still follow the simple rule of white wine with fish and red wine with meat. It just works so easily, so I don't complicate it 🤷♀️ Instead with pork sometimes I have a light bodied red, sometimes a full bodied white, depends.
It doesn’t sound boring at all, I almost only choose white wine for a fish or seafood. I know that there are red wines that can also accompany these dishes, but I prefer whites. 🙏🏻
I would disagree. I believe wine/food pairing to be underrated. In that you can ruin either or both with a poor pairing and get both enhanced when well paired. And even a food-gasm when wine is perfectly paired. There is ALWAYS a good-great wine with every food and vise versa.
@@kdzidoc true, when it works its magical but most of time its just mid. I gather enough magic from wine alone and rather spend my efforts there but hey, if I get offered an amazing pairing, I gladly accept it.
I think pairing is a very important aspect tbh. Pairings I particularly love: steak and rioja, or Cabernet (big tannins), Thai or other spicy food with Riesling ir gewurz, risotto or creamy pasta with a wood aged chenin Blanc (or Chardonnay) and crisps or oily fish with champagne 🥂
Love the "Common [...] Mistakes & How To Avoid Them" with its vibes of "Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them" 😂 maybe too geeky of me! I agree with the message and I think it's quite clear in the video: that pairing should be taken as a CREATIVE game, not as a closed-end puzzle to SOLVE! A fun story: I've been arguing with my Italian friends time and time again about what goes with classic carbonara. They say it should be white wine to create the contrast, which is the safer bet that I find completely fine! Yet, I think carbonara is a very "convergent" dish: it's so rich and decadent in each and every one of its ingredients, so bringing in a fresh white kinda ruins the mood for me! I opt for a medium bodied red wine that will create the contrast with its structure but not with its aromas, so that you get the sensory relief from the fat and richness while maintaining a bit more of the vibe. Something with high acidity, and optionally also high tannin to cut through the protein of the egg and cheese mixture; but not something too fruity or it will ruin the mood anyway. My bet: some taut Nebbiolo from Alto Piemonte should do! Nothing too oaky or too ripe or too old, but one of those youthful Nebs that feel like an untamed young horse with a good kick to it!
I would recommend exactly that. Each of us perceive wine, and wine and food pairing differently, if You liked Syrah with Ahi Tuna - that is Your pairing. For myself I would have gone towards white, but with more body! 🤔
High acidity red will always be wonderful with rich meat, but beyond that, I don't really know until I try something. Sometimes 1 cheese is incredible with 1 wine, but substitute a more expensive very similar wine and it doesn't work. Seafood with white, but resiling and chardonnay often don't work. I also have no understanding if what works for me is universal, or everyone has different pairings that work for them. I'd really want to understand this more, and right now, am cooking spicier (picante). This is very bad with bigger high alcohol reds, but these foods (especially Mexican) work well with mezcal, which is higher alcohol than any wine and are too strong for lighter wines, maybe they just don't go with wine at all. Wish people gave more information on "what works" than "what to avoid".
In my opinion there are way more tips and suggestions of what works great, than what to avoid. Even here, under this video, You will see more advices on what wine goes with which food. So I wanted to do something different. More-so, I wanted to show, that it is not only about magical ideas, but that there is science to it. 🥂🍾
I found your argument about soups and wines a bit vague. What soups are we talking about. A vegetable cream soup? A consommé? A Hungarian goulash or fish soup? They are very different and some of them can be paired very well with wines.
@NoSediment well, often what I was served by my Italian friends in Milano...so suggested to me and it was a nice experience, especially for me acidity of Franciacorta balances the creaminess of risotto
@@NoSediment You are right that it depends. The common problem in wine-cheese pairing is lactic acid. There are some wines that are lactic acid rich, as well as some cheese types. Consuming them together just don't taste good. It is overwhelming and unbalanced.
yes, hot soups and wines just a waste of time, i've read some well-regarded somms write about it, pure nonsense. just finish the damn soup and drink later
