If you start talking to local sommeliers about what wines to purchase, a surprising thing begins to happen. You find yourself getting hungry, not thirsty, because as soon as they mention a wine, they pair it with a suggestion for food and sometimes those suggestions are quite out of the ordinary.
Rosanne Winter-Repchuk and her husband Richard Repchuk, for example, of Campbell Liquor Store, talk about spending a cool winter evening sharing a bowl of garlic and truffle-flavoured popcorn while they sip champagne.
“Champagne and indeed many sparkling wines go well with salty things like popcorn and potato chips. Well really, champagne goes well with most foods because of the effervescence. It makes you smile,” Winter-Repchuk said.
On a night when they are feeling flush with cash, they might nibble popcorn as they drink Pol Roger Champagne for $57 a bottle.
“That’s the champagne served at William and Kate’s wedding,” she said.
But at other times, a bottle of Canadian-made Stellar’s Jay, which sells for about $25 a bottle, would be just fine too, she said.
Bubbly wines go equally well with sweet desserts, Winter-Repchuk said, but for a real treat she prefers to drink Madeira.
“Madeira always surprises people because they aren’t familiar with it and they think they won’t like it, but a bottle of Blandy’s Madeira, Duke of Clarence ($24.95), is very special with fruitcake or shortbread,” she said.
The Madeira seems sweeter than the fruitcake itself, as if the cake had a liquid, throat-warming icing sprinkled on top.
“If you’re looking for a dessert wine, one rule of thumb is to look for a wine that’s sweeter than the dessert. The Madeira is sweeter than the cake, that’s why it’s so complementary,” Repchuk explained, adding that a sherry, such as Apostle Sherry ($29.95) is equally good with fruitcake and shortbread cookies.
With chocolate-dipped strawberries, the couple suggests serving Brachetto d’Aqui ($29.95) or for a real splurge, Recioto ($70).
Across town at Unwined Wine Merchants, sommelier Bill Medak, was hungry for steak, cheese and chocolate and, amazingly enough, managed to combine them all in one dish.
“There’s a big red wine called Chocolate Shop ($17.99), which is infused with dark chocolate. You might like to sip it as you eat a big piece of chocolate cake but I also use it for cooking. I use it to deglaze a steak I’ve topped with gorgonzola cheese. Then I also sip the wine,” Medak said.
For turkey dinner, Medak suggests serving pinot noir, which is a red wine or a riesling, which is white.
“In itself, turkey is somewhat acidic so it plays well with lightly acidic, fruity wines. On the lower end of cost, try Mandolyn pinot noir from California at $22 per bottle and on the high end try a burgundy Grand Corton Frederic Magnien at $120. For a riesling, try Fritz Gunderloch at $18 a bottle or Joh Jos Prüm on the higher end at $46.99,” he said.
Like the Repchuks, Medak likes bubbly with almost anything.
“Try Champagne Mimosa on Christmas morning. Just mix a little cheap bubbly, maybe a Pro Secco ($6.49) from Italy or a Cava ($15 to $25) from Spain, with your orange juice,” Medak said.
Here are two recipes to try with wine:
Rosanne’s Truffle Scented Popcorn
1 c. popcorn kernels popped
c. of butter
1 clove of whole clove of garlic, unmashed
1 tsp. of truffle oil (available at Italian grocery stores and markets)
Fresh herbs such as thyme for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
Pop popcorn. In a small saucepan, melt butter with the clove of garlic. Once melted, add the truffle oil. Remove the garlic and sprinkle the oil and butter over popcorn.
Bill’s Chocolate Lover’s Steak
Pan-fry tenderloin or flat-iron steaks to a preferred temperature. Set aside.
Top each steak with a generous dollop of blue cheese such as Gorgonzola. Cover to keep warm.
In the same pan, spoon in one tablespoon of green peppercorns with some of the brine. Stir quickly over medium heat.
Deglaze the pan with five or six ounces of Chocolate Shop wine.
Reduce the liquid by half. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of butter to thicken. Pour sauce over the cheese and steak.
