1,504 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

The magic of local wines

It's never easy to find the right wine to serve with the dish you've just cooked for your guests, because we're not all amateur sommeliers, and then there are so many possible choices in wines that "the perfect match" seems like a distant utopia, almost impossible to obtain. Add to that a lot of preconceived ideas that we have unconsciously in mind, like fish = white wine, and meat or cheese = red wine, which make it very easy to get lost.

8,506 4.7/5 (15 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Wine Color Agreement Advice Regional Local

Last modified on: April 7^th 2020

For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend

The magic of local wines

Fortunately, you can ask your wine merchant for advice, which is always a good idea, or you can browse the web, but there you may also find almost everything and its opposite.

It is important to recognize that giving advice on wine is quite arbitrary, of course, matches that please everyone are possible, but there is also a good part of the taste, preferences and personal choices of the person who gives the advice that is found in the suggested wine, which is quite normal.

In short, all this to tell you that there are no established rules, and that the tastes of each person can give very different food-wine associations, and yet very successful.

So there are no rules? So it's true, globally, but there are some "tricks" that work all the time, and it's about one of them that I would like to say a few words.

There is a kind of constant in wine and food pairing, it is the wonderful association that happens almost every time with a regional dish, and the wine of the same region. Let's call it "The magic of local wines"...

I don't know which one influenced the other, but I have to admit that if you taste a regional dish, let's say typical of the area, you can safely opt for a wine from the same area, and be almost 100% sure that the match will be perfect.

I'll take two examples to illustrate my point:

cassoulet appellation cahors

1) Cassoulet and Cahors wine: If you serve a cassoulet to your guests, accompany it with a Cahors wine, a good one, which preserves its typicity, and not something neutral and smooth to flatter the globalized gullets, and you will be amazed by the result.

saucisse de Morteau vins du jura

2) Morteau sausage (a dish based on) and a wine from the Jura, in particular a white wine from the Savagnin grape variety, and there you touch on the marvelous... (Yes, yes, well, I'm probably overdoing it here, but what do you expect, this is one of my favourite dishes, and I should never get into it). Same thing if you taste an old Comté, with a lightly toasted sourdough bread.

This natural pairing is therefore an interesting option if you are hesitating about your choice of wine, and if your recipe is a little regional, look at the regional wines, you might just find what you are looking for.

Note of course that this agreement is not an obligation, besides there is never an obligation in gastronomy if you like, but just a very interesting option. And anyway, the possibilities are so numerous, and the tastes so different, that each one of us will have his way of seeing things, and thus of realizing his agreement. The ideal of course is that you, or one of your guests, say, after the first glass "Hey, it's not bad at all!

To sum up: Are you going to serve a (slightly) regional recipe? Always think of local wines to serve with it.

Lasts posts

Should potatoes be washed twice?

Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...
May 19^th 20252,061 15

Grilled bacon is much better in the oven

Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25^th 20251,9235

The thermometer is your friend

There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10^th 20252,2625

Travel cakes

You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27^th 20253,719

The aromatic power of sugar

In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25^th 20244,1625

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

Well-cooked meat

Have you ever noticed that if you like your meat well done, it invites strange looks? For instance, in a restaurant, when asked “How would you like that cooked?” If you reply, “Well done,” it is almost as if you are swearing….
May 21^th 201131 K 14.4

Clean your mixer easily

If you use a "bowl" or "blender" mixer, as opposed to a plunger, you've probably noticed that it's a bit of a hassle to clean it after use. And yet, with a simple trick, it can be done very quickly. See how here.
June 26^th 20245,2995

Raising (or leavening) agents

When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...
June 16^th 202154 K4.8

Steam for baking bread

What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...
June 16^th 2021141 K4.5

The beautiful story of the croissants

As you may have already noticed, cooking, baking and pastry-making are full of stories or legends, usually very romantic, about this or that product or recipe. This is often the case for named recipes, for example tarte tatin, peach melba, paris-brest and many others, but it also applies to very...
October 10^th 201816 K5