When I’m at our winery pouring samples to our guests, one of
the first things I ask is, “Do you like sweet or dry wine?” The majority prefer sweet wine, which
shouldn’t be too surprising unless you only socialize with experienced wine
drinkers.
You see, most Americans seem to consume wine like they enjoy
a beer or a cocktail; before the meal or at a party. This seems to lead to most of those social
wine drinkers selecting something sweet. Additionally, we‘ve found that many women like
to sip on Muscato, a very light, sweet Italian wine.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having wine sans a meal but it’s a bit similar to watching
movie without the sound – you only get half of the experience.
The beauty of wine is it is a
beverage meant to be savored with food!
There are thousands of wines and each one is different. That difference
makes each one go wonderfully with a different food. We teach a fun food and wine pairing class where
we also demonstrate how they work together to create a taste and how it is
different for everyone’s palette.
Much of Europe drinks wine with their meal and what you find
out very quickly is if you are drinking a sweet wine with savory foods the wine
tends to taste bitter. Dry wines are the
correct choice here and even sweet wine drinkers will find that a correctly
paired dry red wine is fantastic with a grilled steak.
If you know someone who never drinks wine with a meal invite
them to dinner. Let them order their
Muscato with their meal and then give them a sip of your dry wine. They will be amazed and you will have
enlighten someone on the wonderful taste of wine with the meal.
Cheers!