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+--- Thread: Best snacks/easy food with Red Wine?? (/thread-19673.html)
- sgs01 - 12-05-2000
Hello guys, I'm a newbie here as well as to wines, but recently been frequently dining at finer restraunts, and fell in love with the taste & feel of red wine.
Now I'm ordering red wines, and would like to enjoy the bottle at home with OR without company, really would like to know what types of snacks to go with it? (cheese? crackers? prefer salty) thanks !!
- mrdutton - 12-06-2000
Hard cheeses and red wines mix nicely. High salt concentrations don't do well with reds with a lot of tannins (since the salt emphasizes the bitterness of the tannin). Try drinking a Riesling or a Gewurztraminer with smoked, salty, hard cheeses.
Try Parmesan, Asiago, Gruyere and nicely aged Cheddars from England or America with your medium to full bodied reds. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo comes to mind as does Cabernet Sauvignon. Barolo, Barbaresco (and even Champagne, which of course is not red) would work, also.
Brie with whites from burgundy - except I've also liked tasting brie encroutte with light to medium bodied reds - such as Beaujolais or Pinot Noir. I've also enjoyed Brie and seafood with Prosecco.
Other snacks...... sausages and such with light to medium bodied reds. Shell fish with French Chardonnay, oysters with Champagne. Crab meat with Alsatian Pinot Gris, Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc or Prosecco.
The very best way to figure out what YOU like with your snacks is to try several different items with several different wines. You'll learn quickly which ones you like and don't like.........
When I serve snacks with crackers, I usually opt for the lighter crackers such as Carrs Water Crackers. They provide a platform for serving the snack without significantly changing the flavor.
[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 12-05-2000).]
- hotwine - 12-06-2000
Mike has some good words there on snacks. One that we've enjoyed lately as an appetizer with our Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau is Alpine Lace Feta cheese and Keebler fat-free saltines.
Another we like this time of year is sausage made with 1/3 each venison, wild hog and beef, served with crackers and a Rhone.
Or on a long, cold day of barbecuing, beef finger ribs (which we call "samplers") and a Rioja go together nicely.
There are many possibilities, but generally, meats and cheeses work very well with most red wines. But the heavier the foods (fatty, smokey, spicey), the more robust should be the wines.
- sgs01 - 12-07-2000
Guys, Thanks for the tips!
Also, please forgive me for my limited knowledge... For all those type of cheeses you've mentioned, where are they obtained?
- mrdutton - 12-07-2000
Upscale grocery stores should carry everyone of the cheeses mentioned above.
Also, check your yellow-pages for cheese shops - there is sure to be one nearby you.
- winoweenie - 12-07-2000
sgs01, welcome to the board. It`s a stretch but you can find the cheeses above and one sensational selection of wine down the 405 to the 55 and then Hi Time Cellars in Costa Mesa. Marvelous jernt. winoweenie