Ideal Bite

Seasonal Wine Pairings

Au Pair

10.07.2009

Submitted by tmeronek on Tue, 10/06/2009 - 11:00pm.

Food
Drink

The Bite:

Is pairing wines with food a foreign concept to you? We'll babysit you through the process - we teamed up with wine website Bottle Notes' tester-in-chief, Alyssa Rapp, so you can pick up sustainable wines that'll go great with seasonal fall recipes. Au yeah.

The Benefits:

Say nanny nanny boo boo to unhealthy pesticides, since sustainable wine makers avoid soil-destroying treatments, which can leach into groundwater.
Seasonal produce requires fewer resources to grow (and ship from faraway places - out-of-season oranges might travel 1,500 miles to get to you, but you can score seasonal sweet potatoes from nearby almost anywhere in the United States).
Matching food with wine brings out the best flavors in both.

Personally Speaking:

Vino lover and NYC Bite editor Brianne pops a candle stick in her wine bottles when they're empty to use for old world-ish, romantic, eco table lighting.

Wanna Try:

Sweet Potato Gnocchi (Daily Tip) - yummy sweet potato pasta.

Grgich Hills 2005 Carneros Chardonnay - citrus and honey, with a slightly nutty finish; first certified biodynamic vintage from its vineyard. A definite splurge item, but worth it ($75).
Eugene Meyer 2007 Pinot Blanc - a cheaper, biodynamic option that pairs just as well - it's fruity, dry, and fresh-tasting with a citrusy nose; search Eugene Meyer to find it ($20).

Roasted Butternut Squash (Chicago Bite) - b'nut squash takes center stage in an all-seasonal veggie dish.

Protero 2005 Gumeracha Viognier - big and hearty, with complex apricot, lemon, and smoky aromas; organic ($38).

Sautéed Mushrooms (Biter Blog) - simple button mushroom side you can get local ingredients for almost all year round.

Bonterra 2006 Merlot - nice and dry, and a bit oaky, with cranberry, chocolate, and cola spice aromas; organic ($15).

Apple Cider Pudding (Chicago Bite) - lots of spices add pizzazz to this apple dessert.

Parducci 2004 Muscat Canelli - soft, fruity, dessert-y, medium-sweet white wine with lemon, lychee, raisin, and spice flavors; sustainably farmed grapes ($16).

For more great wines and pairings, check out our brand-new, in-depth Biter's Guide to Wine - coming soon.

Cocktail Fact

It takes about 2.5 pounds of grapes to make a bottle of wine.

Bang For The Bite

If 10,000 Biters choose a locally grown pint of seasonal mushrooms instead of nonseasonal fungi, we'll save enough gas to fill the tanks of 50 cars.

4 comments

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Cecile Sheff on October 07, 2009 at 07:15 AM 1

Just wanted to put in a good word for some of our Niagara Region wines that are sustainable. Most notable is Southbrook Winery, who's 2008 vintages are the first from Canada to be both Organic and Bio-Dynamic certified. With older vintages, although they weren't certified, they have been working biodynamically for many years to get this certification. Frogpond Farms is another Organically certified winery. Here are a few more who are practicing but not quite there yet...Malivoire, Tawse, Featherstone. For me in Toronto, I try to buy only Niagara wines to support our grape farmers and local wineries...plus, it's amazing knowing that world class wines are being made right around the corner from us!! Some of these will probably have to be ordered on line but all of the wineries have websites.

Organic Style on October 07, 2009 at 09:34 AM 2

Organic Style offers Organic and Eco Friendly Fruit Baskets, Wines, Gift Baskets, Chocolates, Cookies & more. They also offer other eco-friendly products like flowers, bedding & more too. http://www.organicstyle.com http://www.organicbouquet.com

lvshop on October 16, 2009 at 11:34 PM 3

Louis Vuitton Taiga Leather Shoulder Bag Andrei Grizzli M32488

Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas Neverfull PM N51109

Wine Pairings Guide on November 01, 2009 at 11:47 PM 4

Welcome to Good Taste with Tanji, where good food, good wine and good times go hand-in-hand. http://www.goodtastewithtanji.com/pairings

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