Food & Wine Pairing

With winter upon us thoughts naturally drift towards warm comfort food. Wit this in mind, IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to suggest a great wine to pair with pasta bolognese: Because Bolognese is a thick tomato and meat based red sauce, it tends to need a tannin friendly, but acidic wine. Therefore the Palmina 2007 Dolcetto ($20) from Santa Barbara blends seamlessly with Bolognese. The dolcetto’s acid works with the tomato base and the rich ripe fruit blends well with whatever meat used in the sauce. Dolcettos by there nature are built as food friendly wine and certainly it’s a variety you don’t see too often. Of course there are wines available from Italy, but some areas of California are producing outstanding Italian varietals. Palmina focuses of Italian varieties and has quietly been making excellent wines. - Michael Cervin , Wine Judge, Restaurant Critic, and IntoWine Featured Writer

We recently asked our panel of wine experts to recommend a wine to pair with roasted chicken. While a variety of recommendations came forth, the clear winner of the day was New Zealand's Spy Valley Pinot Noir as two of our experts independently suggested this gem of a wine. I would recommend a Pinot Noir. Pinot is a great match for fowl. The roasted qualities of this preparation call for one that is perhaps a bit smoky or has some toasty oak notes (within reason). I am going to recommend a Spy Valley Pinot Noir from New Zealand .

It is said that wine and cheese go together. The real question though is WHAT wines pair with WHAT cheeses. IntoWine's panel of wine experts recently chimed in with their suggestions for the best wine to pair with goat cheese: What usually comes to mind is chevre, so let's think about something different. Think Norway, for a second...the most amazing cheese I know is Gjeost (pronounced yay-toast), and if you don't know this, you must try it. My Grandmother's family was from Bergen, Norway, so I grew up feasting on this sublime cheese. It looks like caramel, and it's sweet like caramel too, but savory at the same time. It's firm, brown, and naturally sweet. I've had it with very dry Champagnes, and Madeiras, but the strangest, tastiest combination is Buy Vin Jaune Vin Jaune from the Jura in France. From a small wine region in Eastern France, this unusual, yellow colored wine gets its character from being matured in a barrel under a film of yeast called the "voile", on the wine's surface. It's a bit like a Fino Sherry, but unlike Sherry it isn't fortified. I think it's a stellar combo with Gjetost- the dry, nutty wine is delicious with the sweet, rich cheese. It may be easier to find the cheese than the wine. A well distributed brand of Gjetost is "Ski Queen", but the wines from the Jura are more obscure. It's worth the hunt! - Laely Heron , Owner/Winemaker, Heron Wines

Fettucini Alfredo is almost as ubiquitous in American casual dining as the hamburger. Since the mid-80's it seems every casual dining restaurant offers some alfredo sauce dish. With this in mind, we asked our panel of experts for their recommendations on what wine to match with rich, buttery, creamy, cheesy alfredo sauce pasta dishes: Pasta Alfredo. To me that brings up thoughts of northern Italy. I am a believer in matching foods to their regions if possible. There are some great wines made in northern Italy. I think for fare like this though, there is no need to break the bank on an expensive Barolo or Amarone (although if you feel inclined I am sure they would be lovely). I am going to recommend Barbera. This grape is grown in the Piedmont region of Italy. In the last few years, Buy Vietti Barbera D'Asti Tre Vigne Barbera has been rediscovered and many different styles are being made ranging from thin and acidic to oak driven fruit bombs. I prefer them somewhere in between. I am going to recommend the 2006 (although the 2004 and 2005 are perhaps even better) Vietti Barbera D’Asti Tre Vigne . This should cost around $20 or less on the retail shelves. It has an abundance of fruit and great acidity to cut thru the cream sauce . It is one of the better food wines and a great match for a cream sauce. If you really want to indulge, add a few shaved truffles on the top for a great meal. - Loren Sonkin , IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder/Winemaker at Sonkin Cellars.

In the US, Chinese food has evolved from being a novelty ethnic food to a virtual staple of the American diet. Nowadays Chinese cuisine permeates the restaurant landscape with a presence ranging from the local shopping mall food court to upscale (almost) fine dining. With this seemingly ubiquitous presence in mind, IntoWine.com asked its panel of wine experts to suggest the best wine to pair with chinese food: OK, if I’m not allowed to recommend Tsingtao beer, wine it will have to be. Naturally, Chinese wine makes most sense and, guess what, it is now available in the US. Although I recommend Riesling, believe it or not, in China, the Chinese drink almost exclusively red wine with their food. Dragon’s Hollow Cabernet Sauvignon is ideal for Chinese food. The wine is picked early, not only does this result in a nice low alcohol which makes any wine more food friendly but it is less opulent in fruit. Opulent fruit and Chinese food don’t sound right. Buy Dragon's Hollow Wines Dragon’s Hollow Cabernet Sauvignon has an appropriate amount of green bell pepper character which makes it match a large variety of Chinese dishes. The low alcohol [though it states 12.5% on the label, it is actually lower than that], makes it even more versatile. Well, ok, if you want to stick with a white wine, Dragon’s Hollow also produces a wonderful dry Riesling. - Bartholomew Broadbent , CEO, Broadbent Selections, San Francisco

Food & Wine Pairing Recommendation Articles: Beef Bourguignon - Best Wine to Pair with Beef Bourguignon Caesar Salad - Best Wine to Pair with Caesar Salad Cheese, Bleu/Blue - Best Wine to Pair with Blue/Bleu Cheese Cheese, Camembert - Best Wine to Pair with Camembert Cheese Cheese, Goat - Best Wine to Pair with Goat Cheese Cheese, Roquefort - Best Wine to Pair with Roquefort Cheese Chicken, Roasted - Best Wine to pair with Roasted Chicken Chicken, Barbecue - Best Wine to Pair with Barbecue Chicken Chinese Food - Best Wine to Pair with Chinese Food Chocolate Desserts - Best Wine to Pair with Chocolate Desserts Cobblers & Crumbles - Dessert Wine Recommendations for Fruit Cobblers and Crumbles Crab Cakes - Best Wine to Pair with Crab Cakes Curry - Best Wine to Pair with Curry Duck Breast - Best Wine to Pair with Duck Breast Eggs - Best Wine to Pair with Egg Dishes Filet Mignon - Best Wine to Pair with Filet Mignon Fish, Sea Bass - Best Wine to Pair with Sea Bass Fish, Tuna - Best Wine to Pair with Tuna Ham, Honey Baked - Best Wine to Pair with Honey Baked Ham Lamb Chops - Best Wine to Pair with Lamb Chops Lamb Shank - Best Wine to Pair with Lamb Shank Lobster - Best Wine to Pair with Boiled Lobster Pasta, Alfredo Sauce - Best Wine to Pair with Pasta with Alfredo Sauce Pasta, Bolognese - Best Wine to Pair with Pasta with Bolognese Sauce Pasta, Carbonara Sauce - Best Wine to Pair with Carbonara Sauce Pasta Pasta, Cream Sauce - Best Wine to Pair with Cream Sauce Pastas Pasta, Marinara Sauce - Best Wine to Pair with Marinara Sauce Pasta, Pesto - Best Wine to Pair with Pesto Sauce Pasta, Spaghetti & Meatballs - Best Wine to Pair with Spaghetti & Meatballs Pasta, White Wine Sauce - Best Wine to Pair with Pasta in White Wine Sauce Pizza - Best Wine to Pair with Pizza Pork Chops - Best Wine to Pair with Pork Chops Pork Spareribs - Best Wine to Pair with Pork Spareribs Pork Tenderloin - Best Wine to Pair with Pork Tenderloin Prime Rib - Best Wine to Pair with Prime Rib Ribeye Steak - Best Wine to Pair with Ribeye Steak Salmon, Grilled - Best Wine to Pair with Grilled Salmon Scallops - Best Wine to Pair with Scallops Steak, Grilled - Red Wine Pairing Suggestions for Grilled Steak Sushi - Best Wine to Pair with Sushi Thai Food - Best Wine to Pair with Thai Food Tomato Cream Sauce Dishes - Best Wines to Pair with Tomato Cream Sauces Tomato & Mozzarella (Caprese) Salad - Best Wine to Pair with Tomato & Mozzarella (Caprese) Salad Turkey - Best Wine to Pair with Turkey (Roasted, Traditional Style) Veal Shanks - Best Wine to Pair with Veal Shanks Holiday Wine Recommendation Articles Regional Wine Recommendation Articles Varietal Wine Recommendation Articles

Pizza may very well be the most popular dish in America. It comes in myriad varieties - deep dish, thin crust, cheap, expensive, and with an endless selection of toppings, sauces, and cheeses. So picking a wine to match with pizza is a daunting task. Nevertheless IntoWine.com posed the question to our panel of wine experts: What wine do you suggest for pizza? I’ve become a real convert to the classic Neopolitan-style pizzas , simple combinations of tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella, or tomato, garlic and oregano, with light, delicate crusts. The kinds of wines that go best with this style of pizza are light, fruity, well made Italian wines, particularly from producers like Occhipinti and Paolo Bea. Both of these producers minimize the sulfites in their wines, which helps preserve the fruity flavors in their Frappatos and Nero d’Avolas, in the case of Ochipinti, and Sagrantino and Sangiovese in the case of Paolo Bea, giving the wines a real sense of freshness on the nose. The ideal bottlings by these producers with this style of pizza would be Occhipinti’s Il Frappato or SP68 Nero d’Avola Frappato, or Paolo Bea’s San Valentino or Rosso de Véo. Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com.

I’m not sure what happened. One day we were enduring another 90º heat wave, and then the weather Gods made an abrupt shift to fall with cool, cloudy 65º days and even cooler, damp nights. Last week I was grilling figs and prosciutto, this week I want comfort food.

Nothing says summer time like boiled lobster and drawn butter. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend the best wines to pair with boiled lobster: This is such a rare , special occasion dish for me that my initial inclination is that the wine has to be something special as well. For the richness and delicacy of lobster, I can’t imagine anything better than Burgundy’s greatest white wine—the world’s most magnificent rendition of Chardonnay—a Montrachet. The wines from this Grand Cru vineyard are very expensive, but if the occasion for a treat like lobster is a best friend or spouse’s milestone birthday, then why not pull out the world’s best white wine to celebrate as well? On a similarly celebratory note, a bottle of Krug Champagne and lobster would make for a very memorable occasion too.