Hi Friends!
I know I keep waxing poetic about charcuterie season and the weather getting better but as I said before if you live in Minnesota you probably feel the same way. Now it's also rosé time and many smaller production wineries are releasing their rosés for the year. If you have a favorite then you're probably a bit of a wine nerd like I am. I'm partial to the Breaking Bread rosé out of Healdsburg and Brave and Maiden's beautiful rosé from the Santa Ynez Valley.
I used to think that pairing rosé with food was difficult but it can be easy if you let it! A light Mediterranean style salad with some citrus, roasted veggies with couscous, and lighter tomato based dishes like a ratatouille all pair like a charm. And honestly that's just the tip of the iceberg. And that iceberg is BIG. Because these wines pair with a sunny day, a partially sunny day, and even a sort of cloudy warm day as well.
This week we're bringing back a couple of crowd favorites for ya'll to order on our website and surprise, surprise, they'll be the perfect accompaniment to that pretty pink glass of wine. The chicken pesto brat and our tangy chive cheddar spread are live online right now for you -- and we'll even make sure it gets to your front door safely! The chicken pesto brat is a bit lighter and has great aromatics which are a key to pairing with rosé for me and we use tomato paste in our chive cheddar spread and you guessed it-- that tomato is ON POINT with these wines and the brightness of the chives are a chefs kiss!
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE CHICKEN PESTO BRATS
CLICK HERE TO ORDER CHIVE CHEDDAR SPREAD
Here's my wine pairing cheat sheet 🤓:
Acidic food requires wine that is just as acidic or more acidic. Acid can also cut through fat so with anything fried. For an extra tasty bonus add bubbles to that acidic when you're eating fried foods. Think sparkling wine and pomme frites!
Spicy food is something that we eat all the time in our house so we keep a lot of Rieslings and Gewürztraminers around. Sweetness in wine can tone down the spiciness in food and the spiciness can tone down the perception of sweetness in the wine. These types of wine also go well if you throw the umaminess factor into that spice party. Don't be a hater and say you don't like these varietals because there are so made different expressions of these wines from dry to sweet and everywhere in-between. But don't knock it until you try it, you won't be sorry. New challenge: order a pseudo uncomfortably spicy Thai noodle with mock duck and veggies and pair it with an off-dry Riesling (you'll look for a Kabinett Riesling at the wine shop).
Fatty food like meats and cheeses should be eaten with higher tannin wines. And yes, we vegans DO eat this kinda stuff now that we have all the vegan meat and cheese alternatives-- a Beyond burger with vegan cheese and mayo would be besties with a big acidic red wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon. But for summer I'd go with a Barbera or a chilled red for those hot days especially if you've got some veggies on the side. Burger with fries? Maybe a Lambrusco di Sorbara!
Creamy food like a vegan grilled cheese, a creamy plant-based Alfredo, or even buttery popcorn with that tasty cheap fake movie theater butter go well with oaky Chardonnays. I'm not personally a huge fan of Chardonnay, if it even as much a looked at a New French oak barrel, but with anything buttery I can do it and 8 times out of 10 I love it.
Sweet foods go best with a wine that has at least the same level of sweetness as the dessert. Vegan peach pie with a late harvest riesling is a match made in heaven.
Salty food needs high acid wines or even, dare I say, sweet wines to balance out that pallet.
The moral of the story is wine and food pairings are in fact very personal. What you like isn't necessarily what someone else might like. Try all the combos of wine and food because maybe you'll find some incredible pairing that no one else has thought of. There really are no rules so just have fun and drink that damn rosé with a bowl of sugary cereal if you feel like it.
Disclaimer: Not all wine is considered vegan. To clarify there are generally no animal products in wine however sometimes animal products are used in production as a fining agent but no animal products remain in the wine once bottled. While this practice is becoming less and less common it's still necessary to check if you are concerned. These days many more producers are putting "vegan" right on the bottles-- I like to use Barnivore to make sure that my wine is cruelty-free. If you're curious about a wine from a smaller producer and cannot find the info you need online then you may be able to call the winery to find out.
xo, Aubry
