I am often asked about food and wine pairings.  The real answer is very simple DRINK what you like.  Seriously, in every staff training I explain that my mother loves a bacon cheeseburger with a glass of pinot grigio.  This is probably one of the worst food and wine parings, but that is irrelevant because that is what makes her happy. The ultimate goal for every beverage professional is to make sure their guests have the best dining experience, isn’t that the reason why you leave the house in the first place? Since dear reader you are not my mother, the wine I would suggest with a bacon cheeseburger is a rich syrah and my reasoning why?  The syrah/shiraz grape has intense dark fruits, rich pepper and just enough bacon fat to match the gooey cheese while playing up the smoky bacon flavors from the burger.  Syrah, a native to Northern Rhone, has a lot of depth with a smooth backbone of tannins to pull the fatty meat away.  We make these recommendations for you so that your second bite tastes like your first.  The next time you open up a Cote-Rotie sit for a moment and you will dream of bacon!

Here are a few quick things to consider before opening up a bottle of wine.  First, remember there are twenty-five ounces of wine per bottle, so on average four to five glasses per bottle.  It is never a good thing to run out of wine, so plan accordingly and unless you have given instructions for your guests to bring specific wine, don’t count on them.  I like having a cheese plate out before dinner this allows for casual mingling.  Serving cheese with wine is a great tradition, this dates back when wine was barely tolerable and people had to wash the bitterness down with cheese and bread.  It always nice having an assortment of cheeses, grapes, figs, nuts, good salami, smoked salmon and bread.  So some wines I would recommend serving are Oregon Pinot Noir, dolcetto- the bright acidity is always a nice accompaniment with food and a chardonnay that has seen some oak.

I have included a few pictures of pinot noir vines from the beautiful Domaine Drouhin Winery, located in Willamette Valley- Oregon.  I like serving Oregon Pinot Noir in the beginning of a meal, the silky tannins, bing cherry and earthy mushrooms cover a lot of flavor components and it is not a heavy red.  You don’t want your guests full before they start eating!