Wine Pairing & Conversation

Join me for a free mini-workshop in amateur wine pairing. This Friday evening, enjoy friendly conversation as you develop your tastes and style in choosing and matching French wines. We will be pairing three AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée) with snacks and sweets. You will need to find the following three wines:

• Bordeaux (or Bordeaux Rouge/Red, or Bordeaux supérieur) - store and serve at 61-64°F (chill in the fridge for up to 10 minutes, no more)
• Chablis - store and serve at 50-53°F (chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes)
• Rosé d'Anjou - store and serve at around 47-50°F (keep it in the fridge, and remove 30 minutes before serving)

Along with the *optional*:

• Banyuls - (53-57°F, open bottle and leave in fridge to breathe until 30-40 minutes before serving)
• Carménère - found in the Chilean/South American wines aisle (55-65°F, chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes)

Do NOT spend more than $35 total for the wines, excluding the two optional ones. You can check reviews online or simply jump right into buying a Chablis or Rosé d'Anjou on the cheaper end--they will be just fine. For the Bordeaux wines, it might be worth spending a tiny bit more, but good wines can found at any price.

For the food portion of this event, choose at least one from each category, although two would be a more rewarding tasting experience:

A.

• Gougères or soft cheese puffs
• Chèvre (creamy goat cheese)
• Camembert
• Brie

B.

• Feta
• Mild cheddar (NOT sharp)
• Burrata or mozzarella
• Baby swiss

C.

• Limburger
• Aged asiago (look for a black wax)
• Beaufort
• Comté
• Emmental
• Manchego
• Gruyère

D.

• Milk chocolate, or a dessert with milk chocolate
• Dark chocolate, or a dessert with dark chocolate
• Berries, or a dessert with berries
• Lemon bars
• Pears, or a dessert with pears

You may also want to include anything from the following:

• Baguette or crackers*
• Tapenade and/or olives
• Prosciutto
• Salami
• Chorizo
• Other dry-cured sausage

*I recommend either a simple baguette or mild crackers, although the French typically serve cheese plates without any bread. Shocking, I know!

I'm looking forward to dining with you--À bientôt !