Advice on Pairing Your Wine with Food this Holiday Season

Dasja Ashbrook ( Tiffany )
By: Tiffany on October 26, 2012 3:21 am PST   Flag blog entry   

If you’re going to have a party this year, it might be a good idea to brush up on your wine and food pairing skills.


Being able to find the right combination of drinks and food can really bring about a more satisfying taste to the entire meal. However, if you’ve never had the pleasure of pairing food and wine and you’re not even really sure of the types of wine there are, it can seem like a very daunting task to complete. Below, you will find some simple examples on how you can incorporate the taste of the wine with the type of meal that works best for you and your guests during your holiday party this year.

Try Wine Tasting
A good idea might even be to allow your guests to choose their own wines. This is a great way to start the evening off and a way to bring sophistication to the evening. You can have a few selections of wines fro them to choose from as well as plenty of water so that everyone who participates can clean their pallets between the servings of the wines. Many of your guests will love the fact that you allowed them the opportunity to select what they would like to drink for the evening. If you do not want to do this for your guests, you can also choose to go to a wine tasting on your own with your spouse or close friend to make a selection for your party.

Paring with Foods
Once you’ve had your wine tasting you are going to need to focus on the types of meals that will best compliment the wine you’re going to serve during the dinner. Below are a few popular wine choices and general meal types they go best with. Try using this as a guide to help you in making a great combination that everyone will enjoy.

Bordeaux (red wine) is great for serving with meals that will have red meats. This is especially true if you plan on serving something like game or lamb and even including a cheese dish on the side. There are two different types of Red Bordeaux; one is from the west bank varieties, while the other is from east bank. Should you choose a wine from the east bank type you want to serve them with milder red meats such as beef stew which is a great choice.

Another popular wine choice is Chardonnay. This is a great wine that is in season during the fall and early spring months but goes well with seafood. They are particularly known for being served with lobster, sea bass, or shrimp. You can also choose to go with a white meat such as turkey, pork, or chicken as they can also be paired great with Chardonnay, this is especially true if you add garlic sauces, cream or butter to the meals.

Lastly, champagne can also be great for special occasions. You can combine this with more upscale food choices such as lobster, oyster, or caviar just to name a few. It can also be paired with chicken and turkey if done with light butter glazes.

All in all, you are sure to find a wine that is suitable for your holiday party this year. You will be pleased to see how much better the tasting experience is once you know the proper way to pair a good meal with a good drink.


Tags: pairing food


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