Food & Wine Pairing

New Year's Eve conjures images of champagne corks popping and bubbly flowing as party goers sing Auld Lang Syne while the clock strikes midnight to ring new hope for all. Rather than buying the typical boring grocery store Champagne for New Year's Eve, IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts their thoughts on what a good sparkling wine alternative would be to toast the clock striking midnight: "At the turn of midnight , New Year's Eve, you don't want to be singing Ol'Langsynen with an expensive Champagne being carelessly flung around. However, you do want to think that you are drinking true Champagne. Well, there is one Cava that hits the jackpot. It is Montsarra at approx $16 a bottle, you cannot go wrong with this wine. It has a beautiful label and also a true Champagne taste. The three traditional grapes, Macabeo, Xarel.lo and Parellada are enhanced by 5% Chardonnay, one of the three principal Champagne gr apes [the other two being Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier]. This 5% Chardonnay lends it to being more true to Champagne, whereas those that add grapes which are neither true to Cava or Champagne may be fun but more of a fruit cocktail. Montsarra has been consistently the highest ranked Cava by the Wine Enthusiast and it is certainly the only sparkling wine that I like to drink as much as true Champagne." - Bartholomew Broadbent, CEO, Broadbent Selections, San Francisco Watch " Sparkling Wine Recommendations " - Latest Wine Tasting Videos on IntoWineTV

Summertime for most of the United States means the return of vegetation. Both our rural and urban areas come alive with the blossoming of flowers, the production of fruits and vegetables and the long hours of sunshine. We spend countless evenings cherishing this season. As we relax, whether on our own patio or at a neighborhood restaurant, we look for refreshing wines to share the intimate harmony between both humanity and nature.

Use a progressive wine list to please the palates of party members. Each season, I intend to share my favorite party foods and several wine options to serve with a few of the courses, using what is called a progressive wine list.

A blending party is one of the most enjoyable of the various events offered by wine clubs. When combined with a lobster feed, it makes for a most memorable day of hands-on play at winemaking, then hands-on work at lobster -cracking. A tasteful pairing of higher education and higher hedonism. It was just such a day at Alderbrook Winery, located just west of Healdsburg, just off US Highway 101 in California’s Sonoma County.

Now that it’s actually getting warm here in Seattle, it’s time for those delicious Summertime meals – lots of fresh vegetables, salads, and seafood. Normally, I watch my food budget very carefully, but when the farmer’s markets are rocking the produce, I fill up my bag with abandon and gather friends around to enjoy the light fresh flavors of the fields, rivers and ocean. While some people drink red wine year around, I match my wines to the season and, of course, the food.

How many knights do you know who have raced vintage cars and taught at the California Culinary Academy? Or visual display artists equally versed in the secret Malaysian Nonya and French cuisines? These diverse sets of skills and experiences can be found in Roy Salazar and Julie Tan, each of whom has worked professionally with Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook .

Oh my goodness, I thought. I cannot possibly drink this big, full-bodied red wine in this heat – I’ll pass out! Nevertheless, there I was, in Paso Robles during a heat wave (100˚ in the shade), on a wine tasting tour. “Oh, no, this isn’t normal for May” they said “…but it’s great practice for the summer when it’s 110˚ for months!” A pale Seattle girl, I wiped my brow, took another swig of cooling water and headed determinedly back to the bar.

It’s been a long day. At work, your boss yelled at you, at home your spouse snapped about the overfilled laundry hamper, and the cat just expressed her opinion all over the carpet. Nothing will sooth you more than a great glass of wine. But dinner is planned, and it’s not exactly beef bourgogne . So what’s a food-conscious oenophile to do? Here are a few suggestions for pairing decent or even good wines with classic comfort foods to create a fun, relaxing evening.

“I’ll try the Madeira” I said to the sommelier. After retrieving a new bottle from the back of the wine bar, she poured a glass of the deep red wine and set it down. As I made a motion to begin my first sip, I heard: “wait a second; I have something for you to try.” A small dish was placed in front of me, filled with brownish-black disks. “Its chocolate,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Oh, of course,” I responded, not totally understanding the pair of wine and plain pieces of chocolate. Then, as I tasted the bitterness of the chocolate combined with the smooth sweetness of the Madeira, I began to appreciate the origin of the slight smirk flashed by the sommelier. What a perfect match.