It’s not bullshit, but I’m more likely to notice a “bad” pairing where the food and wine clash than I am to notice a great one.
I think this is the crux of the what he said. In his mind, bullshit is because its so subjective.
Even some examples given above, let’s take sushi as one. Are we talking about simply sliced sashimi, dipped into a touch of soy sauce? Or nigiri with attendant horseradish? Or even that same sashimi, but swimming in a sea of highly spiced up and hot (spicy) sauce, as seems de rigour lately in so many places? Rolls made with cream cheese (just who the hell thinks this Japanese in any way?), what do they go with? Saba (mackerel), very oily and way different than sake, hamachi or toro. How about shishamo (smelt, usually with row eggs, deep fried whole, head and all), its part of “sushi”. Or ankimo (monk fish liver), more available these days, thankfully, as we used to find it only during winter months in years past? Ikura or tobiko with (raw) quail egg. How about amaebi, one dish with 2 completely different textures and preps? This is just a trip to a sushi restaurant, not a full list we usually do, but does one order different glass for each dish, because they are all very different in texture/tactile feel as well as in flavors? So, yes, he says BS, since there is no perfect choice, only a suggested one, and even then, if someone loves whites, but a somm suggests a red instead, why? I’ve had a number of suggested food and wine pairings, at high end places, and after a while I simply gave up doing that, its rare that my and some somm’s palate match, and I am sure I am not the only one. In one case, wine actually was way below par for the food, that was at Le Cirque (LV), and wasn’t even served at proper temps to start with.
He is also absolutely on point about French wines never really being made as “match” for food, they always, for centuries, were made NOT to compete with food and to play second fiddle to it (but who reads historical accounts these days, right?). And what is it with so many somms in USA insisting their restaurant serves “authentic Italian food”, for example, made from AMERICAN GROWN INGREDIENTS of course, and yet in their minds only wines made in Italy seem to be a match for that AMERICAN FOOD? Same for French restaurants in USA, or whatever. Do these same somms somehow think that American BBQ places in France serve American wines? How about Vietnamese restaurant, again with AMERICAN RAISED INGREDIENTS, and surrounded by a sea of CA wine hundreds of miles in 3 directions, insisting that absolutely no American wine works with their food, as if Vietnamese wines do (sarcasm here). Somms are mostly full of crap, IMO, self serving and not really trying to do right for a paying customer.
Sure, there are some food pairings that make sense. And yet, they may make sense to me, but not to someone else. Thus, bullshit. Main premise of the article. Last time I suggested German Riesling with Thai food to someone I got this “Are you nuts?!” look, entire crowd was drinking dry reds and one bottle of a very dry white, all happily so.
One of the best customers at the famous Oyster Bar in NYC used to come in, order his usual 3 dozens of various oysters and a bottle of dry red Bordeaux. For decades, a few times a week. So, yes, bullshit, subjective, whatever. Point well made, correctly so. Somms are there to serve the PAYING customer, not visa versa as it seems lately.
There’s lots of baloney around food and wine pairings, and it’s hard to formulate general rules. Certainly “white with fish” and things like that are just dumb. So much depends on the sauces/coniments and other ingredients, plus things like the fat and acid levels in the food and acid/tannin/fruit balance of the wine.
But it’s not BS if you pay attention. The truth is, most people never take the time to notice whether a dish makes a wine taste good or bad, or vice versa. Some people eat straight through a course without sipping wine, then drink between courses, then eat the next course without raising their glass. For them, it won’t matter.
I’ve sometimes pointed out in wine events that a wine doesn’t work with a food or cheese and other people have said, “Gee, you’re right.” They were just too busy conversing to focus on the fact that some things were awful matches. I think the good matches get even less attention.
As mentioned above, wine pairing in general is not BS, it is subjective.
Several nights a week I have the privilege of enjoying a food and wine combination which I (subjectively, of course) think makes each part taste better together than individually.
Anyhow, the whole proposition makes no sense. Wine is food…of course the interaction of flavors of what one eats together on a plate or at table matters. I like a nice steak, but prefer a savory, or at most mildly sweet sauce, bernaise, chimmichurri, maybe balsamic…but not peach ice cream. Everyone in our house enjoys brussels sprouts, and also chocolate cake…but not together.
I enjoy oysters with almost any crisp white wine (but prefer Manzanilla), and while I don’t really have any problem with the person mentioned above who prefers red Bordeaux (not too tannic, I hope…), I would not much enjoy the pairing with milk, or root beer
Well put.
I have to second that. I thought they did a great job and introduced me to Ceritas wines that I had never had before. And I don’t think food and wine pairing is BS. Agree on the Bordeaux and sushi and I find heavy reds don’t pair with lighter fishes but maybe that’s just me. I try to not get too specific on pairings and try unusual ones often but some go tos for me are always the same.
The only part of the article I agree with (and I think he’s making this point) is that people don’t need to follow stuffy rules if they don’t care to. It’s your dinner - eat and drink whatever you like! Even though I would never choose to drink Sancerre with a big porterhouse doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
I think food and wine pairing is lots of fun to figure out and sort of critical; so in a vacuum I would disagree with the headline of the article, but don’t think that’s the precise point he’s making. I want to drink wine while I’m eating a nice meal. To my palate there are countless pairings that fight each other and don’t work well; why would I waste a meal with the key players fighting each other? On the other hand when you find harmony between bite, chew, swallow, and smell and drink, that is fantastic.
That “article” contributes nothing to the ongoing conversation on this topic. The article is terribly short, conclusory, and condescending. Click-bait garbage.
I don’t think anyone disagrees with the idea that, for the majority of people, certain styles of wines paired with certain styles of cuisine generally work well. But it means just that for the “majority” - is that the lexicon from which all people should be deciding what to drink with what? Absolutely not - but has anyone outright said that? Also no.
Structured wine pairings with meals obviously either 1) follow this general sentiment/agreement of style pairings or 2) reflect the palate/opinion of the curator. Those who agree obviously opt for it, while those who disagree, either with the “norm” or the curator’s opinion, obviously aren’t held at gun point to do so.
If you try to argue that there is a strict guide for food and wine pairings that works, you will lose - I don’t think this is anything new.
Here is a quick report he made and was published by Jancis Robinson. (Not behind a paywall)
That’s a great take.
I don’t think anyone who’s ever had a bad pairing could doubt that there are more auspicious pairings.
+1
Tim Hanni is just throwing a bunch of Bullsh*t against the wall and hoping some will stick.
I’m curious if the article could be dramatizing the point Hanni’s trying to make: that there could be several, if not many, wines that can work well with a dish and increase the enjoyment of your meal, and worrying about the “perfect pairing” in wine without being subjective to taste is a fool’s errand, as it is in most things (What is the best music pairing for exercising? What’s the best shirt to pair with a leather jacket?). Judging by the reactions and discussions, it’s been successful in eliciting responses and views. I’d be curious if anyone who attended the conference could confirm that his comments were as combative the article portrayed them to be.
My thought on the matter is that the truth, as it often is, is probably somewhere in between. If we extend the idea beyond “food and wine” and think about “beverages and wine” it’s simple enough to see that certain beverages work well with certain food. I know I’d rather have a glass of milk than a glass of orange juice with my brownie… but I concede a point could be made for coffee or tea instead. But being reasonably centrist doesn’t grab headlines, does it? 
One more thing: it’s obvious that food and wine pairing is first and foremost a profit-driving strategy by restaurants. In many restaurants, I’m sure the somm and chef put effort into finding good pairings. But $$ is the driver.
Bingo. The mediocre wines I see paired with food events in the Twin Cities is exactly a money maker. Every now and then you might see a really good deal on a wine dinner but not too often.
Do I have to tip on the wine? ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Of course pairings matter; some flavors simply don’t work together.
(except for people with the palate of a yak)
I mostly subscribe to the Chef Francis Mallmann philosophy of drinking what you like:
“I do understand harmony in eating, but I feel it’s boring; I feel it’s for toddlers. I believe in clashes in the mouth. I like to eat something that’s delicious and a wine that contrasts with it, and they both fight me to convince me who is the best.”
We put potatoes and asparagus on the plate with a steak for variety. Why not the same for wine? Sometimes it is fun to try to pick a wine that will go well with what I’m preparing and see how the flavors interact. The other day we were making seared scallops with a carrot puree so I tasted a few whites I was considering and picked a Seavey Chard which really stood out well with the meal. That was satisfying.
I don’t usually trust the wine “expert” at a restaurant to recommend a wine, especially if they haven’t engaged me in what kind of wines I like and spent a few minutes with me over the options. I’ve learned my lesson in the past when the wine expert will try to recommend something they think will go well with what everyone at the table is having and it turns out to be boring and working well with nothing. I also don’t usually do the wine pairing dinners unless it is food paired with a wine tasting and not the other way around.
Not BS, simply a way to sell more wine. ITB folks must love the combination!
Having had many pairings and particular tasting menus, but certainly fewer than many here…
Komi in DC did it very well and even introduced me to some cool stuff along the way.
But a recent visit to Paris demonstrated how poorly it can go. We were at a couple restaurants on back to back nights, and both places we had sweetbreads in a relatively classic preparation. At the first restaurant, I had chosen a Lapierre Morgon. It was great, and complemented the sweetbreads (and the duck that my wife chose). Most importantly, it didn’t get in the way.
At the second, well-respected and doubly priced restaurant, we opted for the pairing. Overall, the pairing was lazy at best, but the very young northern Rhone syrah they picked totally conflicted with the more delicate sweetbreads. Fun and useless anecdote, but perhaps some basic ‘rules’ of pairings do go a long way to producing an enjoyable match! While the incredibly specific and verbose deliberation that many restaurants pursue that perfect match, they are quite often just tiresome. BYO for the win every time.
Only from magnum.
I don’t think it’s BS but agree some can make it a bigger deal that it is. In our house, we only really drink wine in the context of a meal so we do pay attention to how the wine will work with the ingredients we are preparing just like we think of how the protein will work with the sauce or starch or veg, etc. While I have strong preferences for certain pairings, I due think that most dishes offer a lot of choices. I made a roast chicken sunday and was in the mood for a red burg. It worked great but I could have went a ton of directions with the dish and none would have been wrong.