We just received this fun, incredibly thorough wine-pairing guide from Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle site GOOP and wanted to share it with you. In this week's newsletter, GOOP interviews five preeminent wine experts -- from a third-generation wine merchant to the award-winning Wine Director for Le Bernardin -- and gets comprehensive pairing suggestions for all kinds of flavors and occasions.
For more pairing tips in the form of quick, info-packed videos, be sure to check out Sasha's 90(ish) Seconds on Wine.
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5 Comments
icebucketselections
April 16, 2010
Can't disagree with you. I wasn't so much as wagging a finger at GOOP or any of the recommenders. What I should have added was that the range of recommendations made in the piece just shows how futile it is to believe that there are matches that are great vs. ones that are terrible. You could probably make a pretty good case for dozens of very different wines with just about any dish. And if that's true, people should just relax, open something and see if it works from their perspective, which is, after all, the only one that matters. Wine appreciation is so subjective that "rules" are pointless. I can't tell you how many times I've poured something I thought was terrific and had the person (whether a consumer or a friend) say it wasn't their cup of tea. Everyone's opinions are valid; some are just more versed in the minutia of wine (and food) than others.
icebucketselections
April 16, 2010
The whole wine/food pairing thing is very much overdone. The truth is that there are very few "perfect" pairings and very few horrible pairings. But there is, thankfully, a universe of pretty good matches in between. As pairings become more and more precise, they lose their usefulness. I've seen books where the "experts" would go so far as to insist on a particular vintage from a particular producer for a dish. It's crazy. There are, admittedly, many ways to pair food and wine. I think among the easiest is to match texture to texture (ie, if something is rich, you can typically match a full-bodied wine to it, though not always). Another way is to have the wine pick up something in the dish (ie, the citrus in a ceviche with the citrusy quality in a Sancerre or Vouvray; or the briny quality of oysters with that same note in a Muscadet). There is far too much hand wringing over wine/food pairings, and the more we study them, the more complicated it all becomes.
dymnyno
April 16, 2010
I TOTALLY agree with you!! Regarding "experts" there must be a newly minted master som for every wine out there...where did they all suddenly come from? It used to be a big deal , but now they seem to be churning them out in huge numbers! As a producer it is helpful to know who to talk to at a restaurant when tasting and selling wine. And, if I know nothing about a wine that is on a restaurant list I like to talk to someone who is familiar with the wine. Other than that(and probably a few other things) I hate it when "experts" make pronouncements about what to drink with what! People throw common sense out because they are afraid of experimenting or looking foolish. In Goop's defense I think that Gwyneth was trying to make people (especially women?) feel more comfortable about ordering wine. The Soms she questioned made some ok suggestions...but some were pretty ...... As a cook, I have a hard time understanding why a Som would not start by educating wine drinkers on American wines, a know local product, just as we learn to cook by using fresh local products. We know the textures and flavors...a great starting place.
dymnyno
April 15, 2010
Interesting...not enough California wines. Also can't believe anyone would recommend Dunn and Corison in the same breath...both great wines...but how different in style ...
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