Food and Wine Pairing Workshop
A quick recap and some key takeaways
This past Sunday, we held our first Food & Wine Pairing Workshop, an event to launch a partnership between Scott and his knowledge and experience of wine, and Paula and her expertise and knowledge of food, to create the newly rebranded Grappolo Food & Wine School.
We had a great time during the R & D phase leading up to this event. First creating a menu that represented the summer bounty and what our local farmers at the City Park Farmers Markets were offering. We tried different wines alongside a multitude of dishes featuring seasonal ingredients, adapting recipes to showcase diverse varieties of produce, like the yellow-fleshed watermelon we had never seen before.
In terms of pairings, what we have to remember is that food and wine pairing is part science, part strategy, and a lot of luck. Some pairings work on paper, but when all the elements crash on the palate, it may be a total disaster…and that’s ok. Experimenting should be part of the fun!
Here are some keys to success when building a paring:
The weight of the food should be equal to the weight of the wines, and vice versa. You wouldn’t serve fresh oysters with cabernet sauvignon (unless it’s 20 years ago when I was working at a steakhouse).
Salt in a dish is lessened by the wine's acidity…potato chips and bubbles are are a great example of this. It just works.
Counterbalancing a very tannic wine with fat and protein…makes me think of one of my favorite pairings: Barolo with brasato di agnello.
Acidic wines are best with tart foods. This is why Barbera goes so well with pizza and tomato sauce. Also consider tart wines when there’s a vinaigrette involved, think Gavi, or the super rare grape from Valle d’Aosta: Prié Blanc.
Off-dry wines help cool the palate when enjoying spicy foods. Think sweeter style rieslings and off-dry chenin blancs, such as Vouvray demi-sec, with Thai foods and the like. I hear US Thai in Denver has the spiciest dishes around…you may need an Auslese Riesling for the optimal pairing.
When pairing with desserts, the wine always needs to be sweeter than the dish. We served an Ela Family Farms peach crisp with Moscato d’Asti…a homerun.
We’ll be offering more Food and Wine pairing workshops in the near future, so stay tuned to our Events page, and make sure to sign up for our newsletter.
Scott & Paula
