Pairing Wine with Food
All wine dinners purport to have one thing in common; the wine pairs well or uniquely to the food it is paired with. There is always the presumption that somewhere along the way of planning for the event, the chef and the sommelier (or the persons in charge of food and wine) actually met and discussed what they proposed pairing and how they complemented each other. I also assume, probably not with a lot of confidence, they may have prepared actually proposed dishes, selected some possible wines and tried them together. What the cost of a reasonable wine dinner these days? $55-$85 ++? Yes, I understand that the consumer gets their money’s worth, but so does the restaurant. The wine dinner menu is prepped for known number of people, and it brings people to a restaurant or event in good numbers. I am sure I could list other benefits, but I am not a restaurateur and this is a wine blog, not a food blog.
Much Experience with Wine Dinners
I have been drinking wine more or less seriously for thirty years or so and have been going to wine dinners for, let’s see…..thirty years or so:
- I’ve been to wine dinners and sat next to real winemakers. I still remember sitting next to Tom Rinaldi and Dan Duckhorn when their wine was being introduced into Florida.
- I’ve been to wine dinners featuring the wines of a single winery.
- I’ve been to wine dinners focused on a specific varietal of wine.
At some dinners the wines are all pre-poured at your place. Some are poured as you go. There are probably as many variations on how to do wine dinners as there are restaurants, sommeliers, wine directors, chefs, distributors and winemakers combined. But the end result is that the food and wine parings are suppose to knock you out of your socks.
The Art of Pairing Wine with Food
I went to a wine dinner recently:”Napa vs. Sonoma: Cross-Valley Rivals Go Head-To-Head.” After some bubbles as a greeting wine to open up our palets, we sampled one Napa and one Sonoma Chardonnay which were paired with a crab cocktail and citrus relish. The wines were (from Napa Valley) Merryville, Napa, 2006 and (from Sonoma) Picket Fence, Russian River Valley, 2006. Both wines were very enjoyable, but in my judgment, neither went with the food exceptionally well. The food didn’t give the wines a chance to show themselves and did not bring forth either wines best features. The citrus relish and crab tried to be the star over the wine, but as a dish it too failed pretty miserablely. The wine did not make the food taste any better at all and the poor crab did need some help.
Matching Wine with Food: take two -CabernetsÂ
The Napa Cabernets were paired with a filet mignon and wonton crusted Ahi tuna with a Cantonese mushroom sauce. Both foods are strong and heavy with protein, usually a strong contender for a Cabernet to stand up for itself. In this case of food wine matching, the wines paired were not on an equal footing. The Napa Valley Freemark Abbey 2004 has something else going on; Merlot, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Sirah. On the other side, the Sonoma wine contender, Rodney Strong Alexander Valley Reserve 2005, was a different vintage plus an 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. As part of this wine dinner, we were handed sheets with tasting notes,  probably from a review or perhaps winemakers’ notes. A statement of what each wine brought to the food pairing was included for those who did not, I assume, want to think too much or perhaps to suggest what they were attempting to do with the wine and food paring. A scoring sheet of 1-5 on Aroma. Taste, Finish and Pairing was also part of the Wine Dinner kit. After the second food pairing failing, the wine dinner notes were doing little to impress me.
Cute Gimmicks do not make up for poor wine and food parings
At this point, suffice it to say, this would not have been my favorite wine dinner, but it gets worse. The sommelier and waitstaff were dressed up in referee uniforms; the ever so classy zebra shirts. They had “contests” to see which table could get the most trivia questions right. The crowd became louder and louder and eventually I would have thought we were in a bar in downtown Orlando watching the Magic beat the Lakers in Game 6. I adore fine food with well pared wine and I use to really like wine dinners, but after this experience, it might be awhile before I can be convinced back to a wine dinner any time soon.
