Allen R. Balik, The Wine Exchange: A pairing perspective | Wine Leave a comment

During the planning stages, we looked at several iterations and quickly discarded most of them as having little interest. Then, it dawned on us to “step out of the box” and feature a range of dishes individually paired with the wines being poured at joint winemaker/chef serving stations. By incorporating a mutual emphasis on wine and food we were able to create an atmosphere that encouraged our guests to savor the parings as they bid on silent auction items before the live program began.

Throughout our 32-year history, the basic formula has not changed, and at each event, our guests rave about that year’s food and wines as being the “best ever.” But, even more gratifying is hearing from them, along with the winemakers, vintners and chefs, compliment the pairings for how they enhanced the evening’s vinous and culinary delights.

For a pairing perspective, I look to the Old World (e.g. Europe) where local practices vividly define how the cuisine of an area developed based on the wine grapes grown there. Historically, individual grape varieties have shown an affinity to the soil, weather and other conditions (known as terroir) specific to a region. Although there’s no direct translation from French to English, terroir refers to the grape vine’s total environment.

Think about the bright whites along the southern Mediterranean coastal areas of France that complement their bountiful fish, the higher acid Sangiovese of Italy’s Tuscany region pairing with traditional tomato-based sauces, the leathery and muscular Nebbiolo of Italy’s northern Piedmont region that go so well with its hearty beef dishes, the sweeter more aromatic Rieslings of Germany with lighter meats, sausages and kraut, along with many other typical examples.