Wine just tastes different when you add food to the equation. And that professional wine judge who gave your Cabernet Sauvignon 88 points? He wasn't eating the roast you're planning on having for dinner when he judged the wine. At best he was eating a cracker.
Potluck Pairings: Add Flavor to Your Wine Tasting Party
Certainly wines can be judged on their own, but it is often much more fun to taste them with food. After all, this is most likely how you'll be enjoying them in the real world of daily dinners.
With that in mind, consider holding a wine-tasting party with food as an equally important player. Make it a potluck. Have your friends bring a bottle or two of wine and a food item. You can make it appetizers or casseroles; maybe focus on Italian food with Italian wines, or do a tour of Asian cuisines with world Rieslings, or regional American food with American wines. The combinations are endless.
Tasting Wine with a Variety of Dishes: The Results May Surprise
Before you begin, take a few small sips of each wine to get a sense of the wine before you eat. Then pour a few more small sips from each bottle and compare with the food. See what you find out--the results may surprise you. A wine that tasted deep and delicious as a sipper by itself may turn out to overwhelm one dish. It might be perfect with the next.
This sort of tasting is fun, and it's also useful. Next time you're having, say, Eggplant Parmesan for dinner, you'll remember how well--perhaps to your surprise--the California Cabernet Sauvignon paired with it at your wine-tasting party.
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