Dinner with Wine Pairing

zephyrindc

Tonight I'm using up the leftover veggies in the fridge to make a Szechwan stir-fry with beef. (Okay, not traditional Med. flavors, but traditional Med. ingredients). I needed a wine with a good amount of fruit and not too dry to balance the spice. If I were using shrimp or chicken I'd automatically go with a dry or slightly off-dry Riesling, or a Viognier. But I wanted to do a red since I'm using beef, so I choose a Petit Syrah (Bogle) that hopefully will have the right balance of fruit without being too heavy like some Zinfandels might. I do think that the right Zin or Syrah/Shiraz would work too.

What are you having for dinner? And what are you drinking with it?

Wade406

I generally pair sweet wines (like a Riesling) with spicy foods. With seafood I often pick acidic wines (Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc). Acidic wines often balance well with olive oil, a nice salad with a vinegrette dressing too. The meal you suggested I would without question pair a southern Rhone wine with. A Cotes du Rhone, Cotes du Rhone Villages, Chateauneuf du Pape. These wines are primarily made from Grenache, Syrah, and Mouvedre grapes. A Spanish Garnacha also goes well. These southern Rhones embody the Mediterranean Lifestyle.

JennergyKC

We have "three buck chuck" Shiraz for our house/table red. We usually drink Chateau St. Michelle Riesling for our white. It's reliably good, affordable, and easily paired.I'd love to find an even cheaper white, but so far the ones I've tried are all off in some way. Occasionally we branch out into other wines for special occasions, but drinking these two regularly saves money and time. So if you're intimidated by all this wine stuff, just know it doesn't have to be expensive or complicated!