When we think of pairing wine with soup, we often think wine only complements thick, meaty stews or soups...and sometimes that is right on. However, when it comes to making the perfect pairing, it's really what's in the pot that determines the perfect wine match.
With earthy flavors, like spices, herbs and tangy tomatoes, you want a wine with good acidity. When it comes to sweeter veggies like onions, squash or carrots, you'll need a wine that is more rounded and lush with fruity flavors.
Clam Chowder: Not all wines are equal here. A luxuirious soup like clam chowder, has a briny taste of the sea and it begs for a citrusy zest of a wine like our Pinot Gris. This wine's lemon and lime accents easily cut through the silky, rich broth and starchy potatoes in the chowder. It's heaven. Some Rieslings might also work well here.
Chicken Soup:For a soup that blankets us in warmth, it begs for a wine that is as weighty as winter itself. A buttery, oaked Chardonnay works wonderfully with chicken and vegetables, while the hints of vanilla spice from the oak complements the herbs.
As a margarita fanatic (dare I say connoisseur?), I feel like I have a certain responsibility to find the best margaritas wherever I go—dive bars, hotels, even the Greek Theatre (theirs is surprisingly worth $18, by the way). There’s only one rule: they need to be crafted with fresh juice and premium tequila. No artificial sour mix that looks like antifreeze or tequila that comes in a plastic bottle!
I like bourbon, but not whisky. I know, I know, bourbon IS whisky, but to me there's a big difference. American bourbon is smooth and sweet and has complex flavors that I enjoy in food--warm spices, fresh herbs, toasted nuts, all kinds of fruit, vanilla, coffee, toffee, chocolate, caramel and more. Whisky, is fire water. Though a fan of all whisky, Chef Michael Symon summed it up this way, "drinking whisky should be a massage, not a wax!"
Though I love wine, I don’t own much wine paraphernalia. Good glassware and a sturdy corkscrew is pretty much all anybody needs. Carafes are nice for entertaining. Aerators a possible necessity if you’re drinking a lot of young red wine, but I generally spend my wine dollars on wine. We have a fairly large cellar and once people find out how many bottles we have - enough to survive a year without buying more, not so much we couldn’t drink it in our lifetime - the first question is always “how much do you drink?” Let’s just say there are two of us, usually one bottle a day…you can do the math.
It happens every year about this time, in magazines and newspapers,
online: an outpouring of effervescent enthusiasm for holiday sparkling
wine bargains. "The best of West Coast bubbly has rarely been better,"
trumpets San Francisco Chronicle Magazine. The online wine merchant www.novusvinum.com features the "Top 20 American Sparkling Wines," from a modest $19 for Francis Coppola 2008 Sofia Blanc de Blancs to a staggering $100 for Schramsberg 2002 J. Schram. Words like "festive" and "elegant" promise a transcendental experience.