As a food and wine guy, I constantly teach folks about pairings and specifically about explaining, to the best of my ability, why certain combinations work while others do not. Red wine with red meat is a no brainer, while ‘stinky socks’ washed rind cheese and big red wine is simply awful unless you sincerely like recreating the sensation of taking a bong hit on a Clorox bottle. Then there’s this new conventional wisdom that you can have red wine with fish. Continue reading »

For years I have been brought up in a wine think that has unequivocally pronounced that white wines should be served chilled (but not glacial) and red wines should be served at “cellar temperature” but not too warm..nor too cool (sort of like those three bears, Goldilocks and the porridge). In fact, I have written so in my book, taught it at MS classes and preached it to all my friends and those who have asked. Yes, of course there’s the obligatory “OK” and tip of the bottle to slightly chilling a Pinot Noir or Beaujolais or adding a snap of cool to a Dolcetto, a basic Côtes du Rhône or young Tempranillo. But bring down the temp on a bottle of Cabernet or Zin? Never- or at least so I thought… Continue reading »