Wine and Food by Josh

Two of my favorite things in the world are food and wine. I have worked in large and small commercial kitchens and have been everything from a dish washer to a head Chef. Entertaining with food and wine is always a pleasure for me. In the tasting room people always ask me how and what to do. This is not an all inclusive page, but it will help give you some ideas. If you ever have questions email me at bryant@topekawine.com. I will post your question and put together an answer for you.      

Before I give you a lot of different ideas and fun recipes, there is something you should know. Cooking is an art, anyone can follow a recipe but it's your job to create! A lot of my recipes do not have exact measurements, just get close. That being said, my recipes are just guide lines. Use what you have at home, if you do not have something then substitute for something else. See how it turns out, but don’t experiment when you are cooking for other people. Make something that you are comfortable cooking for guests. The same goes with pairing a wine. First off these rules do not matter! If you like a food and you like a wine chances are you will still have a great experience.

Really rich full body wines will usually have tannins. A tannins taste is similar to the puckering taste you get when you drink grey tea, or bite into a banana peal. Why would anyone want to bite into a banana? This puckering feeling will cut through a food that coats your mouth. Sausages, roast beef, fried foods and a host of other things.    

If you add a sauce to your food, this will change the texture of the food. Think of a butter-based sauce like Hollandaise and Béarnaise versus a Red Wine reduction sauce. Big difference in texture, mouth feel, and taste. For the Butter based sauce you could choose a crisp white wine that will cleanse and refresh, or maybe use a barrel fermented white that has a creamy texture. I would pull more for the crisp white like our Seyval Blanc, but if you are wanting a real rich flavored wine to go with it pair our Cayuga White. Pairing with the Red wine reduction sauce, all of your Nortons make a great sauce. If you like the Blues man, make a sauce and then serve the wine with it, you are in for a treat!

Food and wine can contrast each other or echo the flavor. How does this work, let's say you have a citrus flavor in your food, use a citrus wine. If there is no oak then you have a perfect combo with a light fish or chicken. If you have a buttery food use a buttery wine, the creaminess of each can be fun.

For earthy wine that tastes of nuts and mushrooms use a red that also has these flavors, steak with sauteed  mushrooms.
 
Rose - blush wine and Sparkling wine go great with hors d'oeuvres i.e. appetizer. Both these wines can be fruity light and a bit tart (from acid). Plus these wines are great conversation starters. This is not to say that you can’t serve these wines with the main course. Sparkling wine can go great with salty food, and blush wine is great with light food on a hot day.

When choosing a dessert don’t go overboard with sweetness. Choose a wine that is a bit less sweet then the dessert. It will refresh the palate. Try Mary’s blush or Niagra with a soft white cake. Mandolin goes great with chocolate covered cherries. 

Spicy food is best with low alcohol and slightly sweeter wine. A high alcohol will make the spiciness more hot but a bit of sweet will tone it down.

If you don’t like a wine it will not get better with food, drink what you like and it will always make you happy. 

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