beyond food and wine

Red with red meat, and white wine with fish.  It was a good start, but who really uses that ancient rule anymore when matching wines.  If anything this only sparked our rebellious spirit and soon we were trying the opposite, matching pinot noir to salmon and even vintage champagne to a perfectly grilled ribeye.  Amazing!  These days you're more like to find sommeliers who are as bold and daring as ever with their wine pairings including obscure white wines from around the globe.  Let's hope you're a fan of chardonnay from Croatia!

The limitations of most wine pairings is that it can only go so far.  There is only so much enjoyment that can be achieved with finding the right wine for a particular dish.  Of course there are countless wines we can match and even different compliments or contrasts to approach to the pairing.  Then there is even the sommelier who dares pair a beer or spirit with a dish because the textures and flavors just fit like the last piece of a puzzle.  Honestly, I think that it is fantastic and I love the more adventurous pairings!  However, no matter how you tweak the food or mix up the wine, the overall pleasure can only reach a certain height.  Now if you include all the other surrounding factors in the room, and we create a synergy between the mood, atmosphere, style, and music to accompany the food and wine... there are literally an infinite number of wines to consider and no limits to our pleasure in the experience.  Not only this, but the pairings will always change because each factor will never be exactly the same so you will have a unique experience every time. 

So many wine pairings are one sided and seem almost mathematical in their summation of two elements to reach the same goal every time.  It is a monologue dictating which one wine to have with one particular dish.  What about a dialogue, a conversation, that takes into account who you are and the atmosphere of your dining experience.  You are not mathematical, calculated, or predictable  Who are you?  What is your wine knowledge?  Where are you from?  How was your day?  Why are you here?   A sommelier might claim to have the holy grail of wine pairings but what if you don’t agree?  The perfect pairing doesn’t just focus on two elements but rather elevates the entire experience bringing everyone involved more joy and pleasure.  

What music, if any, is playing in the restaurant?  Is it good/bad, faint/drowning.  Does it add to the buzz?  What music was paying in the background as you got ready to start your day?  Next time you’re out to dinner, hand over your ipod to the sommelier and then see what wine pairings they can really come up with.  There is an intense connection between wine and music, and it is truly a window into our souls.  Think of the feeling when you find a truly great bottle of wine.  You almost know it even before you’ve had your first sip.  Removing the bottle from its storage you blow off a thin film of dust that fills the air with a sense of history and intrigue.  The initial sound of the wine pouring into the glass starts to wet your appetite and the wine begins to stretch its arms after a long nap of aging.  You swirl the wine in the glass with such reckless abandonment, the juice barely reaching the rim of the glass yet you don’t spill a drop.  Your nose now fully embedded in the aromas almost losing yourself for a minute and then emerging as if just returning from the origin of the wine.  Wine not only transports individuals to a far away place but it also brings everyone back to share the experience together.  How magical is this experience.  Reminds me of the first time I listened to a truly great album like The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty, or The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s, on one of those old scratchy record player.  

 Now the first obvious choice for matching wine with music might be classical music, the likes of Mozart, Bach, and Wagner.   I can’t say any of this is wrong but maybe the last thing that the already slightly pretentious world of wine needs is to be compared to a musical genre that already intimidates most people.  Not only that, maybe it is as outdated and unpractical as red with meat, white with fish.  Is classical music the first thing that we wake up to?  Is it the music that we listen to on the ride to work.  There are a million styles of music and we should talk about the types of music that we know best.  The songs that touch us with the same emotion that a wine evokes.  

What is it about music that speaks directly into our hearts.  It’s intense, it’s bold, and it’s something that we can all relate to.  We may all have different tastes in music, but it's something that fills us with emotion.  We identify with songs and they remind us of particular times and places in our lives.  Isn’t that the same for wine?  All wines, not just the great first growths of Bordeaux, connect within us in the very same way that music touches our souls.  Many people are intimidated by wine and find it hard to communicate what they are tasting.  However, music has been with us since we were a baby and we have more confidence speaking the language of music.  If we can find that relationship, that common language, maybe we have found a new way to talk about wine.  Maybe identifying wine with music will create a new way that each of us can talk about, appreciate, and or course enjoy wine.  

 

Wine Recommendations:

2009 Sauvignon Blanc, St. Lambert, Lambert’s Bay, South Africa

• The Killers, Human - Vibrant, racy, exciting, lively

 

2003 Rioja Reserva, Vina Alberdi, Rioja Alta, Spain

• Jack Johnson, Flake - Comforting, smooth, elegant yet rustic

 

2007 Croze Hermitage, M Chapoutier, Rhone, France

• Jimi Hendrix, The Wind Cries Mary - Edgy yet restrained, firey, spicy

 

2007 Malbec, Mendel, Mendoza, Argentina

• The Rolling Stones, Satisfaction - Aggressive, powerful, bold, intense 

 

What song would you pair with a favorite wine?

Comments

[Edward]

If it was a gray day, and I was enjoying some wine alone, I might play "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" by Bob Dylan. BUT, if I was pouring the first wine at my wine club, and people were feelin good, I'd put on "Baby I Love You" by Aretha Franklin. Then I'd want a light white wine that still makes you feel warm down to your soul. What wine would that be?

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