Tag Archives: wine advice

The myth of wine and food pairings

The myth of wine and food pairings
You must drink big red wine with beef — or else!

Wine and food pairings are wine ?s version of Greek mythology. It ?s the solution to all of the wine industry ?s problems, even though ? like Apollo ?s oracle ? pairings don ?t mean all that much to the vast majority of wine drinkers.

This is not to say that wine and food pairings aren’t legitimate, because certain food tastes better with certain wine, and there is scientific evidence to support that. What it does mean is that, for most consumers, they aren ?t important. You can see more about this here. And here.

This has made such an impression on me that I ?ve pretty much given up on wine and food pairings (though I ?ll still suggest them). The cheap wine book goes into detail, but what it comes down to is this: If I tell people it ?s OK to drink what they want, then why I am telling them what to drink it with? All I ask is that wine drinkers be open to the concept of pairings and give them a try. If they don ?t like them, that ?s fine, too. As my brother says, ?I like big red wine. Why can ?t I drink it when I want

Nevertheless, many in the wine business see wine and food pairings as the key to increasing wine consumption in the U.S. (this being one of the most important exceptions). This approach shows up regularly in studies and white papers, and most recently in what was an otherwise outstanding effort to help the industry figure out how to get Hispanics to drink more wine.

But the report, issued by Rabobank, has this line: ?What support will be given for pairing wine with Hispanic food?” Forget the practicalities ? what exactly is Hispanic food, given that Hispanics come from dozens of countries and they even eat non-Hispanic food? More importantly, it also ignores the point that most consumers don ?t care about pairings and that pairings are especially intimidating to new wine drinkers. So how will that help lure Hispanics into wine?

Sometimes I wonder if anyone is really paying attention when they write these things.

The International Style of Winemaking, and why it drives so many people crazy

 

The International Style of Winemaking, and why it drives so many people crazy
“Keep moving. We have dozens more to unload after this.”

?So tell me where this wine is from. ?

My friend swished, took a sip, moved the wine around in her mouth. ?Malbec from Argentina, ? she said.

?That ?s really good, ? I said. ?I couldn ?t place it, but that ?s exactly what it tastes like. ?

The catch? That the wine was neither malbec nor from Argentina, but a $10 red blend, mostly syrah, from Ch teau La Tour De Beraud in the southern Rhone in France. That it tasted like it was made with a different grape from the other side of the world speaks to the increasing use of winemaking tools that make wine taste the same no matter where it ?s from ? the insidious International Style of Winemaking.

In one respect, this has been an extraordinary advance in winemaking, because it has tremendously improved wine quality over the past decade. It ?s almost impossible to find a poorly made wine these days, no matter where it comes from. I don ?t miss those green, unbalanced wines that tasted like battery acid.

The cost, though, has been high ? wine without terroir or personality or individuality, something that was common even for cheap wine in the 20-plus years I ?ve been doing this. After the jump, what this means to consumers and how to identify these wines.

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The Five Day, $3 Wine Challenge

$3 wineThe Wine Curmudgeon talks a good game when it comes to cheap wine, but does he follow through? This question, always important, is even more critical with the upcoming publication of The Cheap Wine Book (just a couple of weeks away). Hypocrisy has no place in what I ?m trying to do.

Hence The Five Days of $3 Wine Challenge, which starts tonight and runs through this week. Each night, I ?ll drink a $3 wine with dinner and attempt to answer the question: Can a wine drinker live on really cheap wine? Are the claims made by producers like Fred Franzia and the various anti-critics true, that most of us can ?t tell the difference and that it doesn ?t matter if we can?

No one supports cheap wine more than I do. But being cheap isn ?t enough ? quality matters, and my experience over the past decade of drinking very cheap wine is that the quality of these wines is often lacking. So we ?ll put that to the test this week with these five wines, all chardonnays and all purchased in Dallas:

? Two-buck Chuck ($2.99), the Trader Joe ?s private label that was the first and remains the most famous of the very cheap wines. It ?s a California wine from the 2012 vintage.

? Three Wishes ($2.99), the Whole Foods private label. It carries an American appellation, which means it ?s non-vintage and at least three-quarters of the grapes used to make it were grown in the U.S.

? Winking Owl ($2.89) from Aldi but that may be available elsewhere. Also American and non-vintage.

? Cul-de-Sac ($2.96), a private label for Central Market, the high-end chain owned by Texas ? H-E-B, one of the largest privately held companies in the country. Also American and non-vintage.

? Oak Leaf ($2.97), the Walmart private label. Also American and non-vintage.

Why chardonnay? To give the wines the benefit of the doubt, since chardonnay is the easiest cheap wine to make well. And I won ?t pair the wines with anything that would show them up ? no cream sauces or haute French cuisine.

I ?ll post the results of the challenge next Monday, but you can keep up with the day-to-day action by following me on Twitter or checking out the Wine Curmudgeon Facebook page.

Each wine uses the same kind of bottle ? light and without a punt (the hollow in the bottle ?s bottom). And all but the Two-buck Chuck have the same foil and foil design, which isn ?t surprising since each is apparently made by The Wine Group, one of the Big Six and whose brands include Cupcake.

Ask the WC 3: Availability, prices, headaches

Because the customers always write, and the Wine Curmudgeon has answers every month or so. Ask a wine-related question by clicking here.

WC:
I just returned to the U.S. from a three-year stint in the UK where cheap Bordeaux is a plenty at Sainsbury or Tesco. Before we left, we spent a week in Sicily and I stumbled into the Cusumano wines. Amazing stuff. What is the best way to purchase in the U.S.? We now live in Tennessee where you have to go to a package store to buy wine! Insane. Please advise.
Baffled by the three-tier system

Dear Baffled:
You aren ?t the only one. I get more availability questions than anything else; hence this post and this one, which should answer all your questions. Basically, first ask your retailer, and if that doesn ?t work, start Googling. You ?re spot on with the Cusumano, by the way. Love those wines. And I ?m jealous about the Bordeaux.

?

Dear Wine Guy:
You write a lot about how Americans buy cheap wine, but that no one pays enough attention. But maybe there ?s something you ?re missing. Do we buy cheap wine everywhere that sells wine, or only at certain places? Like do fine wine shops sell more expensive wine?
Wondering about prices

Dear Prices:
That ?s one of the best questions I ?ve ever received, and I don ?t know there ?s an exact answer. I consulted a bunch of really smart wine people, and we came up with these proportions, but there ?s no guarantee to their accuracy: About two-thirds of the wine sold at a mass market retailer like Walmart costs $12 or less and 80 to 90 percent of the wine sold at a grocery store costs $12 or less. At a fine wine shop, the numbers for a mass market retailer are likely reversed, so two-thirds of the wine sold there costs $12 or more.

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Hey Wine Curmudgeon:
I have a friend who says she can drink beer OK, but wine, white or red, gives her migraine headaches ? and fast. Any clue as to what is the culprit?
My head hurts

Dear Head:
I have written about headaches, perhaps the great urban myth of wine. About one percent of the U.S. population is allergic to sulfites, which can cause the headaches. The rest of it, says one of the leading researchers in the field, is auto-suggestion. So there is a chance it is sulfites, though a small one ? and one she can test with dried apricots, which have 10 times the sulfites of wine. The other culprit might be histamines, common in wine and which can cause allergic reactions. But beer has histamines, too. So this is where I say I ?m not a doctor, and suggest asking one.

Ask the WC 2: Health, food pairings, weddings

Because the customers always write, and the Wine Curmudgeon has answers every month or so. Ask a wine-related question by clicking here.

Dear Wine Curmudgeon:
Why do doctors say red wine is more heart healthy than white wines? I have acid reflux and whites, roses, and light bodied red wines seem easier on me than heavy red wines. I want to drink heart healthy if possible.
Aging as well as I can in Texas

Dear Aging:
Red wine has more resveratrol, which comes from grape skins, than whites, and roses. Which makes sense, since the skins are used in making red wine more than they are in rose and white. Doctors think resveratrol helps prevent blood vessel damage, cuts bad cholesterol, and can even help with blood clots. Having said that, wine and health remains a controversial subject, and some physicians figure the bad things about wine outweigh the good. I don ?t, and I firmly believe in a heart-healthy lifestyle ? wine in moderation, walking the dogs, and lots of fiber.

?

Dear Cranky Wine Guy:
You offer wine and food pairing suggestions with your reviews, but also write that we should drink what we want and not worry about stuff like that. What am I supposed to think?
Confused reader in the Midwest

Dear Confused:
That contradiction has always bothered me; the last thing I want to do is scare people away with food pairing rules. On the other hand, to paraphrase Paula Lambert, one of the world ?s great artisan cheesemakers, there is a relationship between the two. She says to look for wine that makes the food taste better and for food that makes the wine taste better. Most pairing suggestions will get you close, and you ?ll often be surprised by how much better each tastes. Though, if you want big red wine with crab cakes, who am I to stop you?

?

Dear Wine Curmudgeon:
My daughter is getting married next year, and we ?ve already had problems finding wine for the reception. It ?s expensive, I don ?t understand the process, and I ?m afraid we ?ll get wine that no one likes. Can you help?
Perplexed future mother-in-law

Dear Perplexed:
The WC gets that question all the time, which is why I wrote a wine for your wedding post covering caterers, hotels, pricing, and suggestions about what to serve. In general, It’s your wedding — pick the wine you want and can afford, and don ?t worry about what people think. Anyone who goes to a wedding and complains about the wine probably shouldn ?t have been invited.

Winecast 21: Dave Falchek, Empty Bottles blog

Dave FalchekIf wine had more writers like Dave Falchek, more people would drink wine. He wants to make wine easier for consumers and he doesn ?t suffer foolish wines or their producers ? and he does this writing in Pennsylvania, which has some of most restrictive liquor laws in the country and where availability is often a joke.

Dave ?s advice for wine drinkers: First, if you don ?t like a wine, it doesn ?t mean your taste buds are broken. Second, you ?re not supposed to like a wine just because someone else does.

We talked about those things, as well as Dave ?s work with the American Wine Society, which aims to make wine drinking easier; the state of regional wine, which Dave has supported since he started writing about wine; and whether Pennsylvania will eventually reform its antiquated liquor laws. Click here to download or stream the podcast, which is about 11 minutes long and takes up 10.8 megabytes

Ask the WC 1: Loose corks, cava, unadulterated wine

loose corksBecause the customers always write — this feature, which will run every now and then. Ask a wine-related question by clicking here.

Greetings WC:
A bottle of white wine I bought got warm in the car last summer and the cork pushed out a small amount. Is that possible? If so, should I expect any negative impact to the wine getting warm?
Car & Driver

Dear Car & Driver:
Heat expands, and that’s what happened here. It’s not unusual, and often happens with wine kept in warehouses without air conditioning. Yes, they still exist. The wine may have spoiled or oxidized; really no way to tell until you taste it.

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Dear Mr. Curmudgeon:
I am a faithful reader of your ever informative and always entertaining blog. I want to re-stock my wine rack with cava. Any suggestions?
Bubbly drinker in New York

Dear Bubbly:
So hard to answer while I’m blushing. But you can’t go wrong with the widely available Segura Viudas and Casteller and Naveran from Ole Imports, which may be more difficult to find. Each is around $10. If you want to spend a bit more, try Raventos and Juve y Campos.

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Dear WC:
I’m looking for a simple red wine, one that is unfortified, unsweetened, with nothing added — no spices, flavors, etc. What’s available?
Confused by winespeak

Dear Confused:
I’m surprised I don’t get this question more often, given the terms used to describe wine flavors. If a wine writer says a wine has cherry fruit, it’s not untoward to wonder if cherry juice has been added. But most dry red wine is made without adding those things — typically, just grapes, yeast, and sulfites. You can buy a red wine from McManis, for instance, and it should meet your criteria. The fruit flavors come from wine grapes, which have different flavor properties than table grapes.