Well, wonders never cease! You all know I'm a big fan of Tim Hanni - chef, "sensory guru," Master of Wine. (See More Wine and The Wine "AntiSnob" Revisited.)
So, I was fascinated by a message Mr. Hanni sent me - about some culinary and wine experts joining
together to renounce wine and food pairing. Mercy!
Here's the story: Tim has been joined by a number of food and wine experts, including Chefs Sarah Scott and John Ash, the "Everyday Wine Guy" - Scott Carpenter, to disprove widely accepted tenets of food and wine pairing, including the universally known and accepted red wine with red meat, white wine with fish.
In Mr. Hanni's own words: Wine and food matching has become a tyranny of the minority. For the most part it is a well-intentioned group of aficionados and industry professionals sharing and promoting their personal preferences.
Our efforts to try to provide rules and guidelines rationalizing why 'this wine goes best with this food' have proven to be misguided, contradictory and confusing to a vast majority of wine consumers.
While we acknowledge and respect that many people are passionate about finding the perfect wine to pair with very specific dishes, or vice versa, our twenty years of investigation into the subject show that the processes and outcomes are completely personal, imaginary and random.
So in this vein, Tim's company - The Napa Seasoning Company - has created a food seasoning - Vignon - which will flavor balance the food, and you can enjoy the wines you love the most with whatever food you choose to eat.
Now, I'm shilling for them here (and no, I don't have a stake in the product or the company - rats!) but I just find it so extraordinary and interesting that I'm doing it anyway! According to the website, Vignon is a delicious
blend of sea salt and all natural ingredients like lemon juice,
Parmesan cheese, Shitake mushroom powder, butter flavor and soy sauce;
a rich, subtle multi-purpose seasoning that you can use any time you
would normally use salt.
And it balances the food flavors
while eliminating unpleasant wine and food interactions to enhance your
entire dining experience.
Full disclosure: no, I haven't tried it yet. But I will. And if you already have, I'd love to hear from you. (Hm... I wonder if this means I now have to go in and rewrite parts of my Pages on Entertaining.)
PS - I would be remiss if I didn't mention the co-founder of The Napa Seasoing Company - John Stallcup. And with a resume that includes The Wine Group and Lawry's Foods, a fab new seasoning for wine and food sounds just right.
OK - shilling over. Go forth and drink lots of fabulous wine - eat glorious food - and enjoy life!
** And soon, we'll be carrying the glorious wine stems again, from the exclusive Alan Lee Collection. And at new, low prices! What could be better - fine wines/spirits in gorgeous glasses?