The Grapevine

Food & Wine Pairing: What Goes with Everything?

July 22nd, 2016

A guy walks into a wine shop and says, “I’d like some help pairing a wine with the dinner I’m making tonight. I’ll be serving … ” The shop owner cuts him off and says … [level-members]

What would the wine shop owner say? Is there really a wine that goes with everything? Probably not, but at least according to this Palate Press article, Riesling might be the closest thing to the universal wine pairing partner. (Does that make it the blood type O – the universal donor – of the wine world?)

The article’s opening anecdote about getting business school students to think about food and wine pairings is worth the read alone. And the idea that being an avid and active cook helps make pairing easier and less mysterious. Check out the slideshow because it does include some great general rules of thumb that are much more useful than the old red/white, meat/fish division.

That said, I’m not entirely sure anymore that I agree with the idea that foods and wines from the same region tend to work well together. That’s certainly true of some regions, but wine making has gotten so internationalized, you can sometimes have to do some searching to find a wine typical of a region.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on that – and the other food and wine pairing points made in the article. Here’s the link:

Riesling Goes With Everything, and Sixteen Other Rules for Pairing Wine with Food

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