A few years ago, I turned a corner and started planning my meals around what food would go with whatever wine I wanted to drink. It was weird and kind of an interesting change.
Most people operate the other way. I’d guess most every restaurant does it the other way, as well. Plan the menu, then ask, “What wine would I like with that?” I just find it better and easier to plan from the standpoint of the wine. Food is easy to get. The right wine is a tad harder.
I have a pretty good collection of wines that I like, many of which are somewhat rare, aged perfectly, and ready for drinking whenever I want to call them up to the big leagues. I’m also a pretty good cook and visit my local grocery store frequently.
That math adds up to the fact that it’s easier to plan a meal based on a wine then it is to go find the perfect wine, at the right age, to satisfy whatever food I chose to buy. Wine stores are great and I am sure I could find a bottle that would be good. But would it be right? Better to select the wine, process what meal would be perfect with that wine, then hit the local Whole Foods. It’s less stress.
Enough of the emotional complexities of my meal planning. It’s hard being me.
On my most recent trip to France, I was fortunate enough to be invited for lunch at Domaine Trapet in Gevrey-Chambertin. Domaine Trapet is one of the great Burgundian wineries and produces a series of Grand Cru Burgundies that rival the best wines in the world. Yeah, they’re that good. So, when you run a vineyard and winery, make wine that good, and you serve food, it seems only natural to develop the menu based on the wine, not the other way around.
Read the rest here on our wandering wino blog at Backpacksandawinekey.com