2009 Guy Hand
This weekend, I’ve been invited to an event billed as “Idaho’s First Inaugural Wine Boot Camp.” It’s a media tour put together by The Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission that involves a pub-crawl-style wine and food tasting through downtown Boise on Friday evening and a tour of Valley wineries on Saturday.
With that on the horizon, a web discussion by some heavyweight authorities on the value of food and wine pairings has caught my eye. On Monday, Grant Achatz, the highly praised chef at Alinea in Chicago, began an eight-part series on the subject on The Atlantic food web site. Achatz is a devotee of wine and food pairings:
“We believe that each course can be enhanced by the wine–and visa versa: that the food can enhance the wine as well. That is the essence of a great pairing,” he says. Grant Achatz’s series will run on Mondays and Wednesdays for the next four weeks and promises recommendations for what to serve with “beef heart, caviar, chocolate, and more.”
On Tuesday, wine writer for the New York Times Eric Asimov voiced a tad less enthusiasm about pairings while mentioning Achatz’s series on his Times wine blog:
“Personally, I think we spend far too much time worrying about what wine to serve with which foods. I guess that puts me in disagreement with Achatz, who writes that pairing is critical to the dining experience. That may be true at a perfectionistic restaurant like Alinea, but not in the ordinary realm of the home kitchen.”
It’s a debate I’ll have very much on my mind during this Wine Boot Camp weekend. I’ll ask other participants what they think of the art of wine and food pairings and let you know what I learn.
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Guy Hand is a writer, public radio producer and photographer specializing in food and agriculture. |
