by Lisa Rensch

I love drinking wine with food. Having just the right marriage of flavors between your dinner and wine makes the experience that much more enjoyable. So, what are the guidelines for pairing wine and food? It seems the general rule of thumb has been- red wine goes with red meat, white goes with poultry and fish, maybe choose a rose’ for your pork.  What kind of wine do you pair with a dolmas and roasted eggplant, or grilled portobella mushrooms and a red pepper quinoa salad?

Since becoming vegan in January, this topic has been brought up more than once. I often get quite annoyed that a large majority of pairings seem dependent on the meat in the main course. So, whether or not you are a meat eater, vegetarian, flexitarian, or vegan, remember; the goal is to find synergy. Neither component should overpower another. The very basic guidelines are lighter wines for more subtly flavored dishes and heavier, full-bodied wines with rich and intensely flavored dishes. The most important thing when drinking wine with your meal, is that you enjoy the way that it tastes. So, with that said- there are some “exceptions to the food pairing rule”! Here are a few ideas on pairing and a recipe that I think is appropriate for these beautiful Black Hills summer evenings.

The key to any wine and food pairing begins with how the food is prepared and seasoned. Let the spices and flavors be your guide. If it’s an earthy or nutty dish, a Pinot Noir or a Chianti could be great. If it is a lighter dish with fresh or sauteed green veggies, you might try a white such as a Sauvignon Blanc or an Un-oaked Chardonnay. Onion and leek dishes, especially when roasted or sauteed, allowing the sweet caramelized flavors to come through, go nicely with Riesling and Gewurztraminers which are generally off-dry to semi sweet white wines.

Opposites can attract! A relatively sweet wine often goes with sour or acidic food.  Spicy and salty foods are often paired with fruity, sometimes sweet,  low tannin wines. Sparkling wine with salty food is also complimentary to each other. A full bodied red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon or Petite Sirah pairs superbly with dark chocolate as well as big garlic flavors and red sauces.

Rich vegetable  dishes, such as eggplant and marinated portobello mushrooms often work well with full bodied  traditional (oaked) Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Red or White Zinfandel. Big garlic and tomato based dishes can be paired with a mellow Merlot or Sangiovese. Smokey and grilled foods do well with a silky red that isn’t too tannic, such as Pinot Noir Cabernet Franc or a hybrid grape variety such as Frontenac.

More sweet than savory dishes such as slow roasted vegetables caramelized nuts, grains like bulgar wheat or quinoa with sweet peppers or  fruits call for a wine that is just a bit sweeter than the dish itself, so the food does not taste bitter in contrast to the wine.  Something like a White Zinfandel, Pino Grigio, Reisling or Viogner.

The Black Hills are so green right now! The days of July have been super for hiking, enjoying the thick foliage and hanging out on the deck or patio well into the evening. Last weekend I noticed the leaves on the wild grapes  growing along rapid creek were getting big… still really green and not spotted… perfect for picking. Yes the leaves are edible! But you must steam them first!

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

by Michele Slott

There’s an article in the July 31 issue of Wine Spectator called “Some Like it…Tart” by Matt Kramer, who describes the process of making fine red wine vinegar, and it got me thinking. I love tart flavors too, just as Kramer does. I choose Granny Smith apples, like extra lime in the guacamole, lemon vinaigrette on my pasta salad, sour gummi worms …My husband? Not so much… He makes the funniest faces when he gets a dose of sour and moves quickly on to something else. My four-year-old son learned, “cheeseburger, no pickles” from him months ago.

What wines go well with tart? Chardonnays and dry Rieslings are nice, as are Chiantis… and sometimes something a little sweeter can be a good match, too… How about you? Do you have a favorite wine to go with a tart dish? Please post a comment!

My youngest recently came home from daycare and said proudly, “I ate pickles on my hamburger today.” Hurray for sour!

By, Angela Avila

In college, at the ripe old age of 21, I thought I would have myself a dignified, sit-down dinner party with friends. On the menu: Pasta Primavera. I asked all of my friends to bring a bottle of wine to share. Among the bottles on the table was a small bottle of Port a friend had taken from his parents house (we were poor college students after all). Dinner was served, the bottles were opened and we sat down to enjoy our very “sophisticated” dinner. After a bottle or two of Merlot was enjoyed, the Port was passed around. As we sipped the drink with our pasta dish, I watched the faces of my friends contort as they drank the wine. While some had a look of surprise, other faces showed pure disgust in what they had imbibed. Curious, I took a sip. WHEW! Strong…and sweet! I coughed to catch my breath. We quickly decided as a group that the Port was disgusting! A bottle of Chardonnay was quickly opened.

I laugh as I remember my first experience with Port wine. Little did I know at the time that I was drinking it “wrong”. That is to say, there is a time and place for Port and at the dinner table with Pasta Primavera was not it. Port is a dessert wine…a sipping wine.

A true Port wine comes from the Douro Valley in Portugal. Typically, Port is a sweet red wine that has been fortified with a spirit, often Brandy. Many port-style wines are now produced around the world and can also be found in dry, semi-dry and white varieties.

Traditionally, Port is served as an after dinner drink, often with desserts. It is also referenced as a dessert wine because its sweet and strong character makes it a great wine to serve with dark chocolate or cheesecake.  Furthermore, Brandy is known as a digestive aid, so a small glass of port (fortified with Brandy) may help you fill less full after a big meal. I can’t help but think of a bunch of old men sitting around a fire, loosening their belts after a big meal, sipping on Port and puffing away on big cigars.

Well, you don’t have to be an old-man or a cigar smoker to enjoy a glass of Port. If I had only known in college what to do with that small mysterious bottle at the dinner table, I could have offered dark chocolate mousse with a small glass of Port to each of my guests. I would have probably walked away from the dinner party as a Port lover and wouldn’t have waited so many years to give it another try!

If you have never tried Port or are looking to try something new, Prairie Berry Winery produces a Port-style dessert wine called Great Grandma’s Chokecherry Bliss. It is made from hand-picked South Dakota chokecherries and is a premium sipping wine. A fun way to serve Great Grandma’s Chokecherry Bliss is to dip the rim of a frozen cordial glass in melted chocolate, and then add the wine. It’s a classy presentation and you can enjoy your chocolate and wine together with every sip! As for me, my re-introduction to Port will continue with a bottle of Rosenblum Cellars Desiree Chocolate Port. I have been hearing wonderful things about it. Desiree is a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and chocolate…how could I go wrong. Perhaps I’ll pick up a bottle tonight for dessert!

 

By, Angela Avila

So you know what kind of wine you like to drink. But do you know why? I can drink a good bottle of Pinot Noir or Zinfandel with just about anything…steak, crab legs, salad, cheese, fruit, and of course… dark chocolate. I never knew my love of smooth dry reds was due to the fact that I may have 10 times as many taste buds as the wine drinker next to me. 

Strange, but true! According to the founders of “The Bud Test” at YumYuk.com, not only do our personal experiences shape our palate, but our physiological make-up plays a big role as well. 

Tim Hanni, a California wine consultant, developed the “Budometer” to help simplify the wine drinking experience. According to Jane Black of the Washington Post, Hanni and two other scientists “took into account a decade of research on taste and sensory perception.”  They have analyzed taste buds under magnifying glasses and broken wine drinkers into 4 major categories: Sweet, Hyper-Sensitive, Sensitive and Tolerant. 

 

To test their theory, I had my “buds done” (twice… just to make sure) and after being asked a series of questions on my preferences for coffee, salt, and alcohol it turns out I am a Hyper-Sensitive taster.  After the quiz, I received a break-down of my preferences…which were surprisingly true. I prefer balanced dry wines with moderate intensity, fruit, oak and tannins. Not bad for a five question web quiz. 

But wait, have I been pigeon-holed?  What about the bold, full-bodied cabernet I enjoyed last week?  Or the sweet and fruity Raspberry Honeywine that I have come to like so much… the one that is just as lovely to sip with chocolate as any one of my beloved Pinot’s? While it is all good and fun to have a quiz tell me what kind-of wine drinker I am, I shy away from the idea of having my tongue stuck under a magnifying glass and my taste buds counted.  The enjoyment and allure of wine is something science will never fully explain. One thing is for sure, the next time I open a bottle of wine to share with friends, I will not ask them to stick out their tongues before I serve them…

 

Want to get your “buds done”? Follow the link from Prairie Berry Winery’s webpage:

www.prairieberry.com/news/index.php?newsid=19

by Michele Slott

We get a lot of questions about wine storage and serving here at Prairie Berry Winery. Here are some very important basics we like to share with our customers.

1) Drink soon. Only about 5% of the wines sold in this country are purchased to cellar long-term. The style of wine we make is best consumed within two years.

2) Share with a friend. Once open, the wine starts to deteriorate, and is best consumed within 1-3 days. Sweeter wines may be kept a day or two longer.

3) Keep it cool. Preferably a stable, cool (50-60°F) place, such as the bottom of a basement closet. Storing wine too cold or too warm, or wild temperature fluctuations can all have negative effects on the taste.

4) Avoid light. UV rays can cause oxidation.

5) Hold still. Keep wine away from vibrations, as this can (believe it or not) disrupt it on a molecular level, causing it to lose flavor intensity.

6) Serving temp is important. Dry red wines are best served at a cool room temperature, 55-60°F. Dry whites, a bit cooler, at 50-55°F (put in the fridge for 20 minutes before serving - no more). A sweeter wine should be served well-chilled at around 40°F . If it’s been in the fridge all day, let it sit out for 20 minutes or so before pouring.

7) Stelvin tips. When preparing to open, simply twist and remove the Stelvin screwcap. No cork means no corkscrew, no “cork taint”, AND you can store the bottle upright. DO handle the top of the bottle gently. The seal on the  inside edge can get damaged if you drop the bottle or bang it too hard — air then leaks in, and weeks or months later, the wine is ruined.

Fear not the floaties. Although most commercial wines do not have sediment, you may occasionally come across a bottle with some present in older wines. One reason wine bottles were originally designed with the indentation, or “punt” in the bottom, was to allow these natural elements to settle out, instead of being poured into the glass. Light colored tartaric acid crystals form if the wine gets too cold, or you may find sediment from the grape or fruit. Besides allowing it to settle in the bottle, you can use a wine filter or pour into a decanter at a gentle angle. Don’t fear “floaties”, but you don’t want them in your glass, either.

9) Burp the bottle (well, sort-of). If storing for a day or so after opening, you CAN replace the Stelvin lid, but are best off using some type of wine preservation system such as a Vacu-Vin that removes the air from the bottle to slow down the deterioration of the wine. This is especially true for delicate dry white wines which can turn quickly. Store resealed bottles in the refrigerator.

by Holli Edwards

South Dakota is not considered on the leading edge of the trends - but this is not a bad thing, especially in this case!  In the Best of Year 2008 edition of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, and featured on their website,  is a story regarding wine now being served in rubber tipped baby bottles.  A restaurant in New York City, La Cave de Fondus (they feature a cow sipping wine from a baby bottle on their website) is serving beer and wine in these bottles modeled after a restaurant in Paris who creatively went this route to forgo paying tax on wine served in wine glasses.  Nursing your drink brings on a whole new meaning!

by Sandi Vojta-Winemaker

I find myself drawn to wines produced by family’s who have been in the wine business for several generations.  I know that winemaking is who they are and that they are truly talented to be successful in such a volatile industy. 

One such family is the Seghesio family that immigrated to Sonoma County, CA in the late 1800’s from Italy.  They brought their family winemaking tradition to America along with several Italian grape varieties such as Aglianico (pronounced “ah-LYAH-nee-koe”), which actually originated in Greece.  They are one of the few wineries in North America that produce Aglianico.  The Aglianico grape produces a very powerful, full bodied wine with firm tannins, enabling it to be cellared for several years.  I recently enjoyed a 2003 Seghesio Aglianico.  It had an incredible deep garnet color with an equally deep plum nose, nice tannin structure, allowing an impressive finish. 

Wine Spectator just released their top 100 wines of 2008 and Seghesio Family Vineyards made #10 with their 2007 Sonoma County Zinfandel.  Did I forget to mention their Zins aren’t too shabby either?

Cheers!

Sandi

by Sandi Vojta- Winemaker

Some of my all time favorite wines are produced from a tried and true winery located in Napa Valley called Raymond Vineyards.  They are one of the authentic wineries that you have to seek out or possibly rediscover.  Coincidentally they are a Fifth Generation family of winemakers beginning in 1876 in California.  They produce four different labels of wine. These include the Napa Valley Reserve, R Collection, Limited Edition, and Small Lot Wines  They specialize in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and are recently again producing a Meritage (last one was in 1991).   If you tend to prefer a chewy Cab to a Merlot …I highly recommend giving their Reserve Merlot a try……2 thumbs up for this wine!  Their lower end R Collection Cabernet is an outstanding every day wine up to their higher end silky smooth Generations Cab.  It’s all good.

Cheers!

Sandi

by Kim Flick

One of my guilty pleasures of traveling is to leave all previous comfort zones and try local - or at least different - flavors (food and drink!).  Recently, my family and I packed up and headed east.  We stayed with some relatives near the Chesapeake Bay.  Having spent some years there in my past, I decided to go to the largest beverage ‘warehouse’ in the area to find something to pair with the intended meal of the evening - a bushel of Maryland crabs.  I chose somewhat of an unconventional seafood pairing - a jammy Zinfandel by Toad Hollow.  I was very pleasantly surprised!  Not only was the wine itself robust and full bodied, it stood up wonderfully to the spicy Old Bay Seasoning in which the crabs were covered.  My hubby went with the more obvious choice of beer with crabs (where you dump them on newspaper in the middle of the table) and chose a mocha porter by Rogue (I think he still had chocolate on the brain from our trip to Hershey, PA the previous day) which also seemed to pair well.  Maybe it was the fact that we were on vacation, so everything was tasting especially good?  No, I’ve also had the unfortunate experience of being disappointed by my selections.  BUT, you never know what sort of gem you will discover (then cross your fingers that you can find it once you get home!) to make it worth the chance!

by Michele Slott

One of my favorite things about drinking wine is how the right combination of food and wine create a whole new taste experience. Although a kids movie (and a personal favorite), “Ratatouille” speaks quite a bit about creating new flavor combinations, and the power that can have in your mouth… as well as the power of taste to suddenly transport you back to another time and place. One of my most memorable wine tasting experiences was the first time I happened to enjoy a nice dry red wine with an aged cheddar, drizzled with thyme-infused honey… The wine suddenly tasted of rich vanilla to me — something I’d not picked up in the glass before. It was a dramatic surprise, and very tasty.

Are there any food and wine combinations that you remember coming together to create a new, third flavor?