Store Hours:
Mon to Wed: 10:30 to 6:30
Thurs & Fri: 10:00 to 8:00
Saturday: 10:00 to 6:00
Sunday: Noon to 6:00
We are located in the cellar of the Historic Alberta Hotel Building
137 - 8th Ave. SW
Calgary, AB T2P 1B4
T: 503.0730
F:261.9641
email: info@cellarwinestore.com
click for a map
You must be 18 years old or over to purchase alcohol and The Cellar can only ship within Calgary.
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"A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine"
- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Pairing wine and food can often seem as mysterious as match-making -- sometimes opposites will attract and other times an unlikely pair will work wonders together. Wine and food pairing is more of an art than a science as there is no sure formula; sometimes a little flair and creativity in your decision making can result in happy pairings.
There are, however, some basic principles that may be followed as a starting point. Following are some things to consider when pairing wine and food.
(adapted from Joanna Simon’s Wine with Food - available at The Cellar).
Weight
One of the most basic things to consider when pairing wine with food is to try to balance the weight of the food with that of the wine. Simply put, a light meal (a salad for example) would not go very well with a full-bodied red wine as it would totally overpower the salad. Considering weight is about trying to find a balance between the wine and the food. At The Cellar we make it easy for you as we arrange all of our wines by style which in large part has to do with weight (light and fruity to full-bodied)
Intensity
Intensity of flavour is an important consideration when attempting to balance a wine with a food. An intensely flavoured dish will call for an intensely flavoured wine, a subtle dish with a subtle wine. Intensity is where the principle of weight can be tossed off the cutting board. Some wines can pair well with foods where there is a contrast in weight and yet balance of intensity. For example, a Riesling (crisp white) matches wonderfully with fatty meats like duck or goose. Other foods that are intense in flavour, like Thai food, will call for intense and yet light wines that are similar in character.
Acidity
Foods that have acidity like dishes prepared with lemon or other citrus fruits, tomato, or vinegar, will work well with wines that also have a relatively high level of acidity. Generally speaking, white wines and wines grown in cooler climates will have higher acidity levels. For white wines, check our crisp, fresh, dry section for wines like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, or Chenin Blanc. For reds, browse our light fruity section and pick wines like Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Gamay, or Barbera for example.
Salt
Salt plus sweet is a magical combination -- port with stilton for example. Salty foods like olives and smoked fish often go very nicely with aperitifs like fino sherry and champagne. Salty foods will often clash with wines heavy in tannin which is often a misconception as many people pair full-bodied red wines with their favourite cheeses (which often are salty).
Tannin
Wines that are heavy in tannin can often be difficult to drink on their own (what I call "pucker power"). Once a highly tannic wine meets with a heavy red meat dish (something chewy in texture) there is a natural pairing. The tannin works wonders to break down the meat and the meat serves to mellow out the wine. Wine which are generally quite tannic are Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, and Brunello for example -- check out full-bodied reds section.
Sweet
A general rule of thumb is that the wine should be as sweet as the food.
-- S.N. |
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For Life on the Go:
Wine and Take-out
As much fun as great food paired with great wine can be, the majority of our lunches—and too often our dinners—consist of fast food picked up and eaten on the go or back at work. A sad state for gastronomy, but never fear we at The Cellar understand your plight and have come to the rescue.
There are plenty of options for wines to make pairings with take-out feasible, ranging from the ever-popular half bottle to the useful Wine Life wine preserver. Ultimately though, the greatest hurdle to wine with modern lunches has to be the pairing itself. For instance, the ubiquitous staple of fast food, pizza, comes in a variety of flavours and styles that each have an impact on the wine needed. For spicy meat pizzas, try the Illuminati Riparosso 2001 or the Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel 2001. For a Hawaiian pizza, a Gray Monk Unwooded Chardonnay 2000 might be better suited.
If you’re on a diet of subs, or just enjoy big sandwiches, you need a wine that has the same weight as your lunch. Try Ninth Island Pinot Noir 2001 for a red, or either the Vineland Estate Gewurztraminer 2000 or the Chancellor Waipara Sauvignon Blanc 2000 for white.
If Chinese food is more to your liking, aromatic white wines are your friends. Try the Wolfberger Gewurztraminer 2001), the Weingut Johannishof Riesling Kabinett 2000, or the Summerhill Ehrenfelser 2001.
For the more exotic and Mediterranean flavours of a falafel lunch, you might want to stick a Greek wine, like Achaia Clauss Nemea 2000. However, the Duboeuf Julienas 2001 or Rodet Domaine de la Ferte Givry 1999 would work equally well to balance out the acidity. (K.Y.)
The Classic Pairing:
Wine and Cheese
Like any wine and food pairing, a good starting point is choosing either a complementary or contrasting wine to pair with your favourite cheese. Try a spicy wine with a spicy cheese, or a fruity wine with a fruity cheese for example. On the flip side, opposites do attract and there are some wonderful contrasting pairings. For example, a fatty cheese like a triple cream brie, pairs well with a highly acidic wine.
One of my favourite pairings is a salty cheese with a sweet wine, which can make a wonderful dessert, late night snack, or unconventional breakfast.
Here are a few dessert wine and cheese pairings:
A Tokaji, that fabulous dessert wine from Hungary, (e.g.: Oremus Tokaji Aszu 1993), or a Sauternes (e.g.: Chateau de Malle Sauternes 1997) with a blue cheese, or a Tawny Port (e.g.: Dow's 30 yr old Tawny) with Stilton.
As any good guide on wine and food pairing will advise, break the rules, experiment, have fun, and trust your palate! If you would like to explore this topic further, I recommend reading The Cheese Plate
-- S.N. |
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