How to Pair Wine and Cheese

When trying to put together a tasty wine and cheese pairing, the thing you have to know is: If it tastes yummy, does it! I’m sure you’ve heard all the fancy chefs sharing about what cheese works with which wine; however, when you make your selection, it’s all about personal taste. You may prefer your favorite cheese with your favorite wine. Cheese and wine are often matched, and they have been enjoyed together since days gone by. Both result from fermentation. Both may be consumed while fresh, simple, and young or in their more complex forms when they are mature.

There are no hard and fast rules as to which wines should typically be served with a particular cheese. There is a general guideline that cheeses of a certain geographic locale are best enjoyed with wines of the same locale. But, just as one bottle of pinot noir from the Niagara Valley is not like that of another vintage or another producer, neither is one Blue Benedictin exactly like another. Both are living and constantly changing. This is what makes pairing cheese and wine fascinating as well as delicious.

Even though it comes down to personal taste, certain general rules have been approved by most of the experts. Here are some of those general guidelines:
o White wines work well with soft cheeses and stronger flavors.
o Red wines work well with hard cheeses and milder flavors.
o Fruity and sweet white wines (not dry) and dessert wines work well with a wider selection of cheeses.
o The more snappy the cheese you choose, the sweeter the wine should be.
o Accord should always exist between the cheese and the wine. They should have similar strength. There should always be a balance - strong and powerful cheeses should be paired with similar wines and delicate cheeses should be paired with lighter wines.
o A complete list of well paired wine and cheese groupings can be found at temecula-wine.net.

When offering a group of cheese selections in a wine and cheese pairing spread, white wines fair better than reds. That’s because several cheeses, particularly soft and creamy ones, leave a after taste of fat on the palate that block the flavor in reds, creating a taste that is monotonous and bland.

Ultimately, the perfect wine and cheese pairing is not a match made in heaven. It is a match made on the taste buds of each of your guests. Start with the basic guidelines above and then try the new pairings. You will be surprised which couple will be your choice selections.

ViVAS tips on food and wine matching

Most people already know that white wine goes well with white meat and red wine with red meat, but sometimes it can be a lot more complex. There are three basic principles in matching food and wine - matching weight, matching acidity and matching intensity,” says ViVAS marketing manager Henry John, “and if you stick to these, your matches should be a success.”

Weight - When matching by weight you need to pair big strong wines to big strong food and similarly light, simpler wine with lighter foods.

Acidity - Acidity is an important part of any wine. It’s the thing that makes your mouth water, makes the wine refreshing and stimulates you to take another sip. Foods with a lot of acidity, for example tomatoes or vinaigrette dressing, are better with a crisp refreshing wine. Wines which are crisp and mouth-watering will also be good with oily food. A great example of this is an Italian red wine with Italian food where the chief ingredients are olive oil and tomatoes.

News Source: ViVAS tips on food and wine matching

Interesting Facts about Wine Tasting Tour

Wine country tour is planned to enlarge the taste of the tasters, and it could really be enjoyable, since many wine generating regions of the world are very gorgeous.

Characteristically, any wine tasting tour moves around wineries, letting the tasters to view the winery, and possibly meet the wine producer also. In other cases, the trip visits chosen tasting rooms that might pour wines from a unique winery, or several wineries like Niagara on the Lake Wineries. Organizing and managing a wine tasting tour could actually get complex, as the director desires the people on the tour to taste as many wines as probable, while harmonizing the wish to remain in some spots higher than others. The journey may take the shape of a day trip or a more comprehensive quest, and habitually comprise lunch, dinner, and other lodgings as well.

In many cases, a winery or tasting area is open for people during pre set hours. In few cases, a scheduled time needs to be fixed. Scheduled time only wineries are apt to be small, and apprehensive about overwhelming their services with the tasters. By asking visitors to make appointments, the wine producer makes sure that people get a bespoken and frequently cherished experience in the winery tour. In some other cases, the vineyard might in addition offer tours of the wine lab and making rooms that could actually be interesting for people who desire to be acquainted with more about the course behind making wine.

The Benefits of Wine

One of the oldest alcoholic beverages is wine; its existence has been since thousands of years since 6000 B.C. It is made from the fermentation of grape juice. There is whole lot of varieties of wine available. One among these wines is the red wine which in recent days has been proven that it has a variety of benefits.

Increases the longevity of life:
Current data suggests that red icewine has an element in it which extends the longevity of life .An article research suggests that in 2000 there were more than 600 million people above the age of 60 years and this figure in 2025 will reach about 1.2 billion in 2025.

Smoking
Intense smoking damages the vessels and they tend to lose the natural ability to relax. However red wine has some beneficial impacts to remove the negative impact of smoking.

Effects on heart
One of the most proven and studied benefit of wine is that it is very much heart protective effect. Limited consumption of heart disease acts as a protection against the coronary heart disease. It reduces the production LDL (bad cholesterol) and it boosts the production of HDL (good cholesterol).

Blood clotting
Another very important feature of red wine is its ability towards anticlotting. Consumers who consume wine to light and moderate levels have lower levels of protein fibrinogen which promotes blood clot formation.

Hypertension
When the wine is consumed in excess it acts as a risk factor for hypertension .However there have been studies which have proved that if 250ml of wine is consumed along with the meal it can reduce the blood pressure in hypertensive persons.

Kidney stone formation
It also reduces the risk of kidney stone formation.

To conclude with I would not suggest everyone to drink wine wholeheartedly but I would
suggest that if you fall in the above situation that it would be a good idea to consume wines from Niagara on the Lake Wineries but in moderate quantity.

Wine and Food Pairing

The process of matching food and wine is highly subjective and inexact process. The old rules like having red wine with red meat and white wine with fish and poultry do not hold well these days because in this fast moving world experimentation regarding the match of wine with the food recipes and no one follows these hard and fast rules. The pairing could be on your own will and wish. You can hear the suggestion about the new mix and match suggestions on an everyday basis.

Vineyard tours and wine tastings are a great way to try to try the different wines and learn more as to which wine you favor the most. Then you can begin with trying the foods and wines you favor the most. While pairing food and wine, the goal is synergy and power. The wine should not overpower the food, and even the food should not overpower the wine.

Try and match the food with the wine in such a way that it flavors the food in a better way. Wine in itself tastes better than the food icewine has a similar significance as that of spice in food. Wine when drunk along with your food produces different sensations. A good match can bring out the nuances that can enhance the flavors and bring very good characteristics of both the food and wine.

Good food and wine pairing is achieved when there are similarities and contrasts between the taste and intensity.

Tips to Select the Wines

Wine selection is an important criterion essential in the wine festivals and all the other wine events. There are about three P’s which are essential in selecting the wines are as follows: Price, preference and pairing. These three P’s will definitely render you proper help in selecting some of the best wines from good niagara wineries.

Price: This is one of the key components useful in determining the amount you are willing to pay for the wine and it will also help you find the wine that is right in determining the right wine for you. Gone are the days where you could get some of the best wines at considerable price of about $30. These days you can even find a considerable good wine for $15 or even at a lesser amount so it is essential that you become really eye centric about the amount of the wines.

Preferences:This is what we all run behind sometimes even ignoring the price; these are ones which attracts our taste buds to the core. But as far as the wines are concerned then it is essential that you be concerned of the fact that who will drink the wine and what is the occasion for what you are sharing the wine are they new comers who are drinking the wine. Hence it is essential that you better find out all this then land up in a wine merchant’s shop or better wineries Niagara on the lake to buy the wine. Consider the fact for example that you are hosting a happy hour party then it is essential that you go in for safe drinks which are not much strong you can probably go in for the reds and white wine.

Pairing :In case you are looking out for wines specifically for the purpose of pairing with the dinners then it is essential that you take into account the key ingredients that you would be using for the dinner specifically.