Off The Vine Media

Wine and a meal
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When planning a meal there is always a reason behind what you are making.  It may be something simple as you are low on time it may fancy because of a special occasion , it may be themed or one of many other factors.  One of these driving factors behind your meal may be wine.  That is correct wine can frame a meal !  Wine can help create a template on where you would like to take your meal and how the diners will experience it.  Here are some ways wine can frame your meal this evening.

Wine has the ability to to help steer the flavors of the meal.  If you speak to any sommelier they will tell you that certain wines pair better with certain foods due to things like acidity levels in the wine, how sweet the wine is, how spicy the food is, along with a number of other factors.  This being said if you decide to drink a Merlot this evening  it may not pair well with every food therefore helping to steer your food choices.

Frequently we have theme’s for our meals.  This can be because of a special occasion or time of year or just for fun.    When you chose a wine it can help you decide on your theme.  For example if you chose a Rioja from Spain it may be a great opportunity for a Spanish themed meal or Tapas party.  Maybe, you run across a pineapple wine from Hawaii which would lead perfectly into a Luau.

These are just two of many ways that wine can frame the meal you are going to prepare for dinner this evening.  So remember wine isn’t just a part of the meal it may actually help to plan your next meal.

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Wine and food pairings are a delicate, artistic, difficult and easy task.  Yes I know I contradicted myself.  However, the ultimate goal in pairing wine and food is to have them compliment each other.  The amazing thing is that there are wines that match perfectly with every food variety and type.  There are even wines to drink before dinner and wines to drink with dessert or as a digestive.  Sometimes the most fun is to experiment and to pick a wine you like and pair it with whatever you are eating.  You may not always have the best results.  However, you will learn quickly what wine to pair with what you are eating.  Trial by error if you will.

If you have never experienced a wine dinner then you should.  This is where the whole point of the meal is to pair each course with a different wine  in order to showcase the wine and food.  I recently experinced one of these at the restraunt Wildfire with wines from Ferrari-Carano.  I highly recomend this experience.  You will have the opportunity to see how wine and food can truley pull out the best charactistics of each.  Not to mention great food and wine.

So next time you are making dinner plans do a little research on what wine will compliment  your meal or just experiment.  I garuntee you will enjoy the experience.

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1987 Vintage port from Martinez

A few weeks ago some friends were over for dinner.  I was told that my friend was bringing something special for the meal.  We made chipotle-marinated pork chops with chimichurri sauce along with asparagus with balsamic tomatoes (it was amazing).  After we all had our fill, out came the surprise a vintage 1987 port by Martinez.  I had never had the privilege of trying a vintage port let alone a wine of this age I was incredibly excited.  Not knowing the condition of the cork we took our time opening the bottle.  After no issues, I poured a little into my friends glass and he took a sip.  I saw a smile come over his face and I had to ask the obvious, how was it?  what he said next was simple but spoke volumes ” This is so smooth, and I have to say this is the best port I have ever had”.  From that moment I knew that we were all in for a great rest of the night. Some of us were not big fans of port to begin with but its amazing when you try something that is of a high quality and a superb taste how easily your opinion can be swayed.   As the evening wore on we began to talk about the age of the wine and what we were all doing at the time the grapes were picked and the wine was bottled.  It is truly amazing that something so old can still be so good.  I guess it is true what they say, things do get better with age!

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