As a cheese geek I am continually preoccupied with the age-old question that plagues the majority of the cheese obsessed here in NY and elsewhere. “What makes the better cheese pairing? Wine or Beer?” I am clearly not alone in this as a sold-out crowd was on hand at the Artisanal Cheese wine and beer pairing event this past weekend, hosted by Peconic Bay Winery. Working with The Village Cheese Shop in Mattituck, and Greenport Harbor Brewing, the staff at Peconic Bay chose 4 different cheeses and subsequently paired them with complementary beer and wine. This is a pretty perfect…
Posts Tagged“wine pairing”
The “Perfect Thanksgiving Wine” Myth
Thanksgiving wine columns. Editors demand them. Writers write them. Some wayward readers even clamor for them. Me? I hate them. Well, hate is a strong word. Too strong probably. What I do hate is seeing people so stressed out over wine pairing — Thanksgiving or not — that they rely on the words of a stranger just because they are printed on paper. It's not worth worrying about, people. Wine "experts" and sommeliers don't want you to think so, but wine pairing is often much more about avoiding bad pairings than it is finding the singular "perfect" one. Are there…
Thanksgiving Wines: Stop Stressing. Drink Local.
I haven’t written about it much lately, but I’m still the wine pairing guru over at the Culinary Media Network (formerly Gilded Fork). Jen and Mark are terrific and supremely passionate about what they are doing. Between the website and the podcasts, there is plenty of food and drink information coming out of the network. Why do I bring this up as part of my LENNDEVOURS Thanksgiving wine column? Well, when Chef Mark sent me his Thanksgiving menu so that I could start working on the pairings, it really hit me: Why do we worry so much about Thanksgiving wine…
May’s Local with Local Pairing
The goal of my new "Local with Local" series is to not only show how well Long Island food goes with Long Island wine, but also to make it easier for people to try putting the two together at home. For our inaugural pairing, I’ve worked with Doug Gulija of Plaza Cafe to put together a delectable spring offering. I told him that I wanted to focus on sauvignon blanc–specifically the latest vintage from Channing Daughters Winery and this is what he came up with. He’s known for his masterful work with seafood, and this looks delicious (even to someone…
Southwestern Thanksgiving Menu at Gilded Fork
For Thanksgiving, Chef Mark Tafoya at The Gilded Fork has put together a creative and unique Southwestern Thanksgiving menu that includes stuffed turkey breast, chipotle-laced mashed sweet potatoes, a traditional squash dish and apple-cinnamon empanadas. And, as with all of Chef Mark’s menus, I’ve provided some wine pairing suggestions. Pinot noir and off-dry riesling are the main players with one of my favorite dessert wines, Moscato d’Asti paired with the empanadas. Check out the menu and recipes today.
The Thanksgiving Column
Every wine writer or blogger has to write a wine-pairing column for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a must. It’s one of the un-written rules — along with the mandatory New Year’s Eve sparkling wine column, which you can expect to see in just a few weeks. Of course, no two Thanksgiving wine-pairing columns are alike. As it should be, everybody has his or her favorites for the holiday. Sparkling wine, chardonnay, riesling, pinot noir, Beaujolais, syrah, Rioja, sangiovese, zinfandel…the list goes on and on and on. There are as many suggestions as their are wine raconteurs. Me, I tend to like…
Chocolate & Zucchini Pre-Sale on Amazon.com
Back in August I was finally able to reveal what my "secret project" from earlier in the summer entailed. Basically, I helped Clotilde of Chocolate & Zucchini with her book by providing some wine pairings for the deliciously well-crafted recipes in her very first cookbook. She is happy to announce that the book is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. I had a ton of fun working with Clotilde and learned a lot as I tasted through piles of wines to find just the right pairings. And let me just say this…this is going to be a great book. Anyone…
Book Review: What to Drink With What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page
I don’t write very many book reviews despite the fact that several publishers have sent me several books in the past. But, unless I really like a book and think it is worth reading, I don’t feel the need to do a write up. It’s not worth my time to write it — or your time to read it. What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page doesn’t fall into the "not-worth-it" category. In fact, it’s the type of reference that anybody who enjoys cooking, wine and entertaining should keep in their kitchen. Before I…
Gilded Fork: Early Autumn Dinner
Well, the LENNDEVOURS empire continues to expand. With this month’s Mise en Place feature on the Gilded Fork, I’ve officially become the site’s wine pairing guru. They actually list me on the masthead as an "expert" but that is a bit overstated probably. Wine pairing is much easier than most people think. If you have good food and good wine, chances are you’re going to be okay. Of course, there are exceptions…but wine pairing goes far beyond red with meat and white with fish. So, stay tuned as I pair wines with each of chef Mark Tafoya’s courses every month.…