Seasons Pairings
Getting ready for the holidays can be stressful. Pairing wines for your dinner or event with your friends and family doesn’t have to be. Here are some of the basics (do’s and don’ts) that somms apply so you too can pair wines with holiday fare like a pro.
MATCH TEXTURE WITH TEXTURE
This is simple at its core. Light wines with light fair (chilled seafood with white wines like Sauvignon Blanc or Albarino) or big wines with heavier dishes (Cabernet Sauvignon with steaks). Holiday dinners like Thanksgiving, with lighter meats and hearty veggies, tend to fall right in the middle therefore medium-bodied white wines such as Chardonnay, white Grenache or Aligoté and light-to-medium reds such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc or Sangiovese will do the trick. Just remember to steer away from super tannic/structured reds as they may over-power your dinner and lighter whites that may be a little too light or flimsy and will ‘get lost’ with your dishes.
BUT NOT TOO MATCHY WITH FLAVORS
If matching textures is like the volume of the music (the wine isn’t louder or softer than the food), then combining flavors would be like treble to bass. A classic pairing example would be sweet with spice, but we can save pairing your spicy pasta for a different day. For the holidays, think softer fruit driven red wines to complement the stronger fall and winter veggies. For white wines, look for notes of stone fruits, apple and pear with a bit of brightness to cut through those richer notes in your mashed potatoes and cheesy side dishes.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY (IN BULK)
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s easy to be enticed by a good sale. Here’s a great excuse to go out to dinner, try a bottle with a ‘new to you’ grape varietal and see if you love it. You can also talk to the staff at your local wine shop and see if they have any upcoming tastings. Shopping at one of the bigger stores? Buy a single bottle, make a Thanksgiving inspired dinner (maybe Dutch oven chicken), drink up and then go back and buy six more.
SHARE WHAT YOU LOVE
Your friends and family are way more likely to love them if you love them too. Bonus, if you burn a dish or it isn’t perfect, everyone will be too distracted with your pairings to notice.
Here’s a few examples of medium weight pairings from Alpana’s current wine list to get you inspired
Luis Seabra ‘Xisto Ilimitado” Branco, Douro, Portugal 2021: A field blend of varietals planted across different subzones in Portugal. It’s fermented mostly in old oak barrels, which may remind you of an approachable Burgundy. Lemon, minerality and some ripe pear in the fruitiness.
Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Rhone Valley 2022: There are a lot of wine buffs who covet a red CDP. Whites can be harder to find but well worth the search. Grapes grown here ripen well with the sun in the south of France and have texture, texture and more texture. Lemon verbena, baking spice and melon fruits.
Dehlinger Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, California 2019: For everyone with a classic palate this is an old school winery making hand crafted wines. Their Chardonnay is lean and layered. Flinty with buttered pears.
Vina Cobos ‘Felino’ Malbec, Argentina 2021: Thanks to the warm climate and ‘old world’ principles, South American wines can offer that fully body feeling without always having that leathery texture. Plus, they can help keep your budget in-tact! Vina Cobo sources their grapes from select vineyards across top growing regions. Blackberries, cherries and roasted cocoa.
Peay Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California 2020: Pinots are a great crowd pleaser and finding one with the weightiness to be a stand-alone red is ideal. This family run winery makes wines that are great expressions of bold pinots that benefit from the cool Sonoma winds. Fruit, Hibiscus and Rooibos tea.
Uccelliera ‘Rapace’ Tuscany 2018: This is a blend of mainly Sangiovese with some Cabernet and Merlot. I love this as an example of a wine from an ‘old world’ country that has ‘new world’ appeal. A little bit of Cabernet can go a long way when pairing for Thanksgiving. Cinnamon, cedar and black fruit.
