Tag Archives: sunday read

Mar 03 2013
15 Comments
Food and Wine Pairings, Sunday read

Sunday Read: An Overview of the ISA Wine Pairing Criteria

I love what this blogging community has brought to my life. One of my favorite fellow writers is Stefano Crosio, whom I first met through the fabulous Italian food blog Flora’s Table, his wife’s blog on Italian and American food (an awesome resource!). Stefano is in charge of photography and wine and food pairings on the blog. His suggestions are informed suggestions because he is a certified sommelier according to the Italian Sommelier Asssociation (ISA) rules. Stefano has now started his own blog Clicks & Corks on which he shares his stunning work in photography and his love for and knowledge of wine.

Last week, Stefano posted a fabulous article and I am happy to share it with you. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle with figuring out what wines to pair with the food I prepare. I have developed some rules by trial and error, have consulted a few information sources and tried these, but it has all been a bit all over the place. I am not saying this is not fun or educational, but it was also hit and miss. Stefano has summarized and explained ISA’s general suggestions on how to pair certain types of flavors and textures with wines. It is not a “steak = Cabernet Sauvignon” or “asparagus = Silvaner” type of guide which I greatly appreciate. This guide helps me understand the qualities to look for in the food and the wines to make pairings work.

I will be using this guide in the future and see how it works out. I thought it is worth sharing! Have a great Sunday, and thank you, Stefano.

Corks & Clicks: An Overview of the ISA Wine Pairing Criteria 

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Feb 17 2013
12 Comments
Something about wine..., Sunday read

Sunday Read: 5 Words Not to Fear

This Sunday, I want to point you to a thoughtful piece by Eric Asimov, the wine critic at The New York Times. A few weeks ago he published this piece in which he argues that words that have certain connotations that can be perceived as bad, but are not per se bad. The five words are: Bitter, Green, Oak, Dark and Cold.

While I use bitter, green and oak usually as a bad connotation for wines I describe (yes, even oak. I think it is sometimes heavily overused in production, especially in a lot of new world wines), Asimov argues that there are good things to all these descriptors as well. Dark and cold are the two other words where he tries to steer us away from dogmatic views.

I am all for shattering dogmata, so I thought I’d share.

Happy Sunday!

The New York Times: 5 Words Not to Fear

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Jan 27 2013
16 Comments
South Africa, Sunday read

Sunday Read: Does Much-Unloved Pinotage Deserve Another Look?

As you might know, I have a soft spot for a good pinotage, the South African grape. I wrote about that earlier here. As I explained back then, when I first tried pinotage in the early 2000s with South African friends in Germany, my friends were very upset. The wines were incredibly hot from alcohol, and they tasted rubbery. This was in line with what I had read prior to tasting the wines. One of our friends, an older Boer lady, was so upset, that she suggested shooting people that make bad pinotage like this (she also advocated shooting wine columnists who say pinotage tatses like burnt rubber). The problem back then was, and to a certain degree still is: It is very difficult to get good pinotage outside of South Africa. There are exports, for sure, but they tend to be not very good. And the ones that taste good, cost a fortune once they reach Europe or the US.

But since, I have had some good experiences, mainly in Southern Africa. So I do believe this grape deserves another look, but it can be challenging. So thinks Lettie Teague in this piece for the Wall Street Journal. Have a great Sunday!

Wall Street Journal: Does Much-Unloved Pinotage Deserve Another Look?

My fellow blogger Anatoli wrote about South African wine gems the other day, so you might want to check that out, too, while you’re at it. It is not pinotage specific but a great read still! Read his article here.

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