My husband and I have recently gone vegetarian since watching the documentary "Food Inc". I highly recommend this film, but only if you are open to the idea that it might seriously change the way you look at processed meat in the U.S. But anyway, this blog entry is not meant to be a rant on my disgust with all the terrible food available to us Americans. I instead want to discuss what I find to be a challenge in my wine-drinking venture. Its gosh darn hard to pair wine with a vegetarian meal. I mean we battle with this every weekend. There are some dishes that are a piece of cake. I mean its easy to pair a nice Merlot with a Pizza or a crisp Sauvignon Blanc with a cream based pasta. But other things are tricky. Why? Acidity in wine helps to cut through the animal fat in meat dishes. Also, tannins tend to soften when paired with heavy proteins. I love a nice big red wine, but its tough to get that protein element in the food to really knock it out of the park. I've been reading some suggestions which I'm really curious to try. I was reading some suggestions that adding nuts to food can often help in pairing oaky wines to food. Good! I freakin love nuts! Also, they suggest adding cheese and cream to dishes for more acidic wines. Even BETTER! Also, I read that Beaujolais and Pinot Noirs go well with most meals due to the fact that they are low in tannins. Kevin Zraly posted a suggestion for some of my favorite Spanish wines...anything with mushrooms. Well, anyway I do hope to hear some of your suggestions on vegie pairings to try....or NOT try. Thanks again for reading!
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