Wine and Food Pairing Archives

How To Plan a Multi-Course Champagne Dinner

Champagne Is Very Versatile to Pair With Many Foods - Even Steak! Photo Credit: Pexels.com Recently I attended a 13-course dinner in Chicago where every course was paired with a different champagne or sparkling wine. Even the steak course! I was amazed, so I spoke with the chef and sommelier and discovered some great tips so you can create your own multi-course champagne dinner. Here are some suggestions for a 4-course dinner, but feel free to expand! Why Champagne and Sparkling Wine Pairs With Food So Well Many people don’t realize that champagne and other types of sparkling wine are [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2025-09-21T10:27:09-07:00September 21, 2025|

Think Champagne Doesn’t Go with Steak? Laurent Perrier and Alinea Say Think Again

Champagne Does Pair Beautifully With Steak. Pexels.com Many people believe that champagne can only be paired with appetizers or dessert, but Laurent-Perrier believes that champagne can be paired with any food, including steak. To prove this point, they recently organized a multi-course dinner at the 3-star Michelin restaurant Alinea in Chicago. Working with Jon Leopold, Wine Director at Alinea, the Laurent-Perrier team crafted an eye-opening and mouthwatering feast, featuring nine different champagnes paired with thirteen different courses, including Wagyu beef. During several breaks in the 4-hour dinner, Oliver Vigneron, Chef de Cave for Laurent Perrier, explained to the guests in [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2025-09-16T16:04:18-07:00September 16, 2025|

A Simple Guide to Hosting a Wine-Centric BBQ Party

BBQ and Wine - A Great Combination. Photo Credit: Splash.com (Contributed by Kevin Fagan) Warm weather ushers in the fun tradition of hosting family BBQ parties. Grills and smokers nationwide are lit up and filled with succulent meats, veggies, and even pizzas and grilled fruits. While it’s common for many people to crack open a cold beer or soda to enjoy with these BBQ delights, others enjoy pairing their grilled treats with wine. If you want to try this idea, here’s our guide to hosting a wine-centric BBQ party. #1) Create An Inviting Atmosphere While most wine tastings are elegant [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2024-10-02T07:27:06-07:00September 30, 2024|

Tips to Select Wines for Your Superyacht Parties

Tips for Selecting Wines for Your Superyacht. Photo Credit: Pexels.com (Contributed by Kevin Fagan) Yachting is a luxurious experience and a time for you to sit back, soak in the serene views and enjoy a superyacht party. That's why it is natural to expect an impressive wine selection on board. But sometimes it can become rather difficult to experience such a luxury that meets perfectly with your standards. To say it simply, having an exceptional wine tasting list on the yacht is rare. Generally, there is no experienced sommelier on board, so it becomes the host’s, or the chief steward’s/ [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2024-07-17T09:18:59-07:00July 17, 2024|

Men Drink Pink Too: A Sophisticated Rosé Wine for Father’s Day

Real Men Drink Rosé Wine. Photo Credit: Pexels.com, Ryan Holloway One of my favorite memories is coming across a group of men in leather jackets standing next to their motorcycles and drinking rosé wine. This happened in Italy, and I still kick myself that I didn't get a photo of them. However, perhaps it doesn't matter, because there are many men who drink rosé wine. Take my neighor, Paul, who enjoys drinking one of the most expensive rosé wines in the world - Garrus by Chateau d'Esclans, which costs around $125 per bottle. It is made in Provence, France, from [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2024-06-11T20:18:00-07:00June 11, 2024|

Wine And Seafood Pairings That Are Easy For Beginners

The Joy of Pairing Seafood and Wine. Photo Credit: Pexels - Chayko Contributed by Kevin Fagin - Whether you’re a professional wine connoisseur or a casual drinker, you can always enhance your eating experience by choosing the right pairing of wine with your favorite seafood. But why do we have to create pairings? Can’t we just drink any wine with any seafood of our choice? Well, technically yes, but the experience can be far more enjoyable if you balance the flavors of the wine and seafood. What Is Wine and Food Pairing? Wine pairing is the delicate art of matching [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2024-03-27T16:33:10-07:00March 27, 2024|

The 5 Major Wine & Food Matching Theories

Sparkling Wine Has Always Been a Favorite for Pairing With Salad and Dessert Courses. Photo Credit: Pexels.com If you read about the history of food and wine pairing, you will discover that it can be traced back to the ancient Greeks who documented which types of wines would best pair with different dishes. Roman soldiers added wine to their water to kill any germs before eating a meal, and during the Middle Ages texts document very specific examples of which foods should be consumed with wine, such as eel and peaches! However, the five theories of food and wine matching [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-07-18T16:39:29-07:00July 18, 2023|

Calistoga Wineries Celebrate Food Connection And Relaxed Lifestyle In Napa Valley

Calistoga Wine & Culinary Experience at Four Seasons Napa Valley. FOUR SEASONS NAPA When Bo Barrett, CEO of Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley, broke his leg in a ski accident, he was so bored that he went to the local library to do some research. He was curious about the history of the Calistoga District where his winery was located, because at the time, it was the only part of Napa Valley that was not a formal AVA (American Viticulture Area, or appellation). After several months of study, he started writing the draft document to establish an AVA in this [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-06-15T12:31:55-07:00June 15, 2023|

A Conversation With Sommelier Tonya Pitts On Wine/Food Pairing

Tonya Pitts, Sommelier and Wine Director of One Market Restaurant, CA. HARDY WILSON Tonya Pitts grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and remembers her grandmother and great-grandmother enjoying a glass of red Manischewitz wine with dinner each evening. Fast-forward to today where Tonya Pitts manages a 600-bottle wine list at the acclaimed One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, and was recently named ‘Sommelier of the Year’ by Wine Enthusiast’s 2022 Wine Stars Awards. In a recent phone interview, Pitts shares some of her insights into the art of wine and food pairing. She also comments on the importance of Black [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:04:46-08:00March 7, 2023|

An Exciting 5 Course Champagne Dinner

Billecart-Salmon Champagne Designed to Pair with Food. PHOTO CREDIT: BILLECART-SALMON Some of the most innovative and satisfying meals of my life have been organized around one type of wine. For example, I had a 6-course all Riesling wine dinner in Germany once, and a 5-course Madeira wine lunch on the island of Madeira in Portugal. In interviewing Mathieu Roland-Billecart, the CEO of Billecart-Salmon Champagne House in France, for a Forbes article, he shared this enticing 5-course all Champagne dinner. Even more interesting, he said that it is quite common in the Champagne towns of Epernay and Reims to enjoy these [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:06:04-08:00December 29, 2022|

9 Surprising Dessert and Wine Combinations

Delicious Dessert and Wine Combinations. Photo Credit: Pixabay (Contributed by Marina Copeland) - Pairing wine and dessert can be tricky. Get it right, and you’ll create an experience of gastronomic bliss for yourself and your guests. Get it wrong, and they’ll remember the end of your meal for all the wrong reasons. Following is a list of 9 dessert and wine combinations that are sure to make you a hero. The main guideline to remember with dessert pairings is that the wine should always be a little sweeter than the food it is paired with (see more guidelines at the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:07:00-08:00December 5, 2022|

Pairing Wine With Bugs in Mexico – Crickets and Worms

Pairing Baked Crickets and Worms with Sherry and Sparkling Wine in Mexico. C. MONTOYA Though there are many creative wine and food pairings around the world, probably one of the most distinctive can be found in Mexico. At the recent annual OIV conference (43rd World Conference of Vine & Wine), held earlier this month in Baja, Mexico, both of the ‘Bug and Wine’ pairing seminars were completely booked. “We had over 50 people in the Sparkling Wine with Baked Crickets session,” stated Carlota Montoya, a wine educator and media consultant from Mexico City. “We paired four different sparkling wines with [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:07:57-08:00December 3, 2022|

The Art Of Pairing Wine With Asian Food Taken To New Heights At Eight Tables Restaurant In San Francisco

Nine Essential Flavors of Chinese Cuisine Paired with Champagne at Eight Tables Restaurant JOSEPH WEAVER Pairing wine and food is often referred to as both an art and science. Wine seems to go especially well with local cuisine from the country in which it is produced, such as French or Italian wine with French or Italian cuisine. However, matching wine to Asian food flavors is often considered to be more challenging – especially dishes that have unique herbs, spices and flavors compared to traditional western fare. Yet at Eight Tables Restaurant by George Chen, hidden at the end of a [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:08:30-08:00August 31, 2022|

Sweet White Bordeaux Wine Gaining Attention From Younger Consumers And Gourmets

Young wine consumers toasting with Sweet White Bordeaux Wines. Photo Credit: Fotolia: 118526264 When most people think of Bordeaux, a big hearty red wine comes to mind. Yet semi-sweet and sweet white wines have been made in Bordeaux since the 16th century. Long considered to be only a beverage to sip after dinner, such as a sweet Sauternes or Barsac, there is another section of Bordeaux that is beginning to gain more attention for their sweet wines – especially from young consumers and gourmets. Created in 2009 by the Union des Grands Vins de Bordeaux Sweet, the 8 appellations that [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:09:26-08:00December 30, 2021|