My latest obsession (of many) is with Food and Wine magazine, both the print and online versions. I recently subscribed to the print version and have been putting that ahead of the other cooking magazines in the review cycle. And between issues, I surf the online version frequently!
The October issue arrived earlier this week and I showed remarkable restraint in leaving it in its plastic cover until last night (Friday night). This issue focused more on wine than previous issues and had a few interesting articles including food and wine pairings and the best classic wines under $15. I flipped through most of the articles paying attention mostly to the recipes.
There was one article, however, that caught my attention and got me thinking that the writer's thoughts were worth sharing. It was written by Salma Abdelnour who is more comfortable talking about food than she is about wine even though she drinks it everyday. Despite her desire and joy to learn about varietals, regions and producers she is intimidated by the lingo and the ever changing trends. So she tends to second guess her tastes and instincts and stays quiet during conversations about wine. I'm sure we've all been to one of those events when there was one blowbag in the crowd who was a know it all about wine (and if I was the blowbag I blame it on the wine!).
To overcome this, she did conducted an experiment ... she took the food and beverages she was most comfortable with and asked experts (wine directors of respectable restaurants and wine importers) what would be their eqivalent in wine.
She started with burgers and asked what would be considered the White Castle of the wine industry -- meaning what do the snooty mc snoods drink that they don't want anyone to know. The answer was Pinot Grigio. It seems most sommeliers would not admit to drinking Pinot Grigio but in a blind taste test would associate it with more exotic whites with a similar taste profile like Gruner Veltliner Federspiel, Chabblis or Albarino. The other wine that professionals do not like admitting to drinking is Zinfandel (the red kind!) mostly because it is a New World wine. And if you don't know what a New World wine is you need to come to our annual Old World, New World Wine tasting!
The second food she used for comparison was bacon. Her justification was that everyone is happy when eating bacon -- it is so basically delicious that you don't have to think much about it. The experts came back with two responses. The first was Pinot Noir and the second was Merlot which was described was "an easy wine to drink", "like a bear hug from your grandma" and "safe and warm".
The last wine correlation was for coffee ... she wanted to find a wine that was "versatile as it was reliable", something that she could drink every day as she would coffee. The experts came back with Sauvignon Blanc more than any other varietal. It was picked for how well it pairs with food and the low probability it would be tainted (due to being refrigerated during storage and its acidity). Wine director Alpana Singh of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants stated " There's a big difference between good and bad coffee, but if you really need caffeine, you'll drink bad coffee. It's the same with Sauvignon Blanc". To test theory, the write drank Sauvignon Blanc for an entire week experimenting with wines from various growing regions and with different cuisnes and she found that it was a "fantastic utility player". There was one night the Sauv Blanc did not deliver and she figured what she really needed was espresso rather than coffee.
Here's a link to the article: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/wines-for-drinking-not-overthinking
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