The Elizabeth Spencer Pinot Noir Rosé was a different story.

The scent was light, but only because the predominant fruit I picked up on was the watermelon. Take a sip and another strong whiff and you’ll catch a light trace of strawberry and peach, not far off from the winemaker’s notes.

About mid-palate you can pick up on the grapefruit, and it finished off short and dry, like a lot of Rosé do. It would make a fantastic warm-weather wine and would go great with an antipasto platter, cold cuts or a salad (recommended recipe below). I’d score it at 89 points easily.

The bottles run about $25 a piece and can be ordered from the Elizabeth Spencer website. Tell them Bob (a Wine Fugitive contributor and good friend of the winemakers) recommended them.

Winemaker’s Notes

“Deep salmon pink in color. Enticing, fruity aromatic notes of strawberry, peach, watermelon, and a delightful trace of lavender. Flavors of fresh, ripe, strawberry, Crenshaw melon, cranberry, and ruby grapefruit. The wine is light and crisp, with lively bright acidity with bold texture.”

Salad Pairing for Pinot Noir Rosé

1 peeled and diced cucumber
3-4 deseeded and diced roma tomatoes
2 cloves of crushed garlic
3 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons of finely chopped of mint
1 ½ tsp cumin (toasted)
2 lemons (zest and juice)
1 red onion (diced)
2 tsp good red wine vinegar
3 pita breads (torn into mouth size pieces)
Extra Virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Preparation

1) Combine everything except the bread, cumin and olive oil in a bowl.
2) In a separate bowl, combine the bread pieces, cumin and olive oil. Be sure the bread is evenly coated.
3) Carefully place the bread pieces in a hot frying pan with a tsp of extra virgin olive oil and fry till the bread is nicely toasted.
4) Toss the bread pieces and all other ingredients.  Serve as soon as possible after preparing.

As for the wine itself, it’s okay. It’s not nearly as complex as I expected, but has a strong fruity scent and taste, all the way to the mid-palate. It had a long finish, but was more dusty road than the “dusting of cocoa” from the winemaker’s notes. I haven’t seen any official scores on this vintage, but if I were important enough to score wines and be taken seriously, I’d give it 86 points.

I wouldn’t abandon the wine at the score, though. I find that a lot of under 90 point wines are not stand-alone drinkers, but still pair well enough with certain foods that they taste a heck of a lot better.

Pair it with a meat lovers pizza or spaghetti and meatballs, and you’ve gotten your $10 worth of wine and then some.

Winemaker’s notes:

“Scents of blackberry, black cherry, and plum with a touch of black pepper and clove. Jammy fruit from entry through mid-palate, finishing with wild berries and a dusting of cocoa.”

$10-12, available at Target and Wine.com.

Snacks and dishes made with blue cheese often pair well with more desert-like wines such as those offering sweet and fruity notes. Sauternes wines tend to pair the best with blue cheese dishes, especially the 2003 Chateau Lamourette. This white wine pairs well because of its melon notes and caramel body.

When picking a wine to pair with blue cheese you should look for description words such as fruit (apple, melon, peach, etc…), honey and/or caramel. For stronger tasting blue cheese such as Stilton cheese, a Port is often recommended.

For fuller flavored cheeses, especially Parmesan and mozzarella in Italian dishes, Amarone wines pair very well. Grown in a particular region of Italy, Amarones contain woody and cedar notes accompanied with various spice notes. The 2002 Tenuta Sant’Antonio Amarone has received strong reviews when paired with Italian cheese dishes, especially those that are baked and are served with breaded meats.

Softer cheeses like brie and chevre pair well with a medium-bodied Chardonny. However, if your particular brie cheese is more on the rich side you may find a red wine such as a Pinot Noir more to your liking.

Because most burgers are made with beef it is the toppings that may have the biggest impact on which wine pairs the best.  However, whether you go with the classic cheddar cheese or a more creative topping, how the bigger is cooked is vitally important.  An overdone burger can dilute your pallet with a burnt taste while an undercooked burger can become overridden with the complexity of wine.

When you burger is beefy and topped with a tomato based sauce or thick dressing you can find a great pairing in a fruity Chardonnay.  The Chardonnay can include sweet fruits and a buttery mouth-feel that can cut through the richness of a burger.

The 2007 Newton Red Label Chardonnay ($25) is a bit pricey for most burger meals but its tropical fruit notes can make it well worth it.  The 2007 Talbott Chardonnay Monterey County ($15) is a bit more affordable and complements beef burgers with crisp apple fruit notes.

If your burger is heavy on the cheese you may find a good pairing in a cherry wine such as the 2008 Maipe Malbec ($12).  This Malbec includes black cherry and black raspberry notes and offers an intense complexity due to the well drained slopes of this Argentina region.  Few wines in this price range are as complex, making this a great value wine for any meal.

If your burger is loaded with veggies you should look for a floral wine such as the 2008 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose.  The strawberry notes will hit the pallet first but a lingering pomegranate fills the mouth.

Wine and burgers are not traditional companions, but with the right pairing they can quickly become a favorite on your dinner table or backyard spread.

Wines that are often paired with roasted or grilled meats can be just as good with grilled vegetables.  The smoky flavor of grilled vegetables like mushrooms, squash and eggplant on the grill can pair well with the earthiness of a Pinot Noir.  Other vegetables that seem to pair well with red wine are beans, tomatoes and dishes served with cheese.

Many wine drinkers have found vegetables like artichoke and asparagus to be challenging to pair with wine. Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher recommends a full bodied Cabernet Franc for asparagus and a dry Rosé for artichokes.  I have found that by adding a bit of lemon zest to these vegetables while on the grill you can couple these veggies with just about any nice bottle of sparkling wine.

For meals that are heavy in herbs and mint, such as salads, they often pair well with a Merlot or Cabernet.

Many vegetarians turn to dishes with a Mexican or Southwestern flavor during the summer months which can include meals made with salsa, corns and green chilies.  Those dishes seem to pair well with a slightly grassy California or a crisp French Chablis.

Because vegetable dishes can be a bit more subtle when it comes to flavor, it is important to not choose a wine that is too dominant.  Summer can be a good season to explore white wines that provide a more delicate complement to vegetarian dishes, on and off the grill.

Another thing to look out for as a vegetarian wine lover is the process in which the wine is made.  The majority of wine is a vegetarian product itself, but there are times when animal products are used in a process to remove sediment.  If you are a vegetarian you may want to check on the sediment process before you buy.

Vegetarians can sometimes feel left out during the grilling season but there are plenty of wine pairings that go well with your veggie dishes.  Summer can be a great eating season for vegetarians, particularly those who like to enjoy a nice glass of wine with their meal.

Pairing with that can be a little difficult. I immediately thought a nice orange moscato would go nicely but didn’t have any on hand. The more I thought about it, lots of places wouldn’t even carry it.

While regular moscato would do just fine, I couldn’t let go of the idea of adding a hint of orange to the pairing, which led me to an old school fortified favorite, Sherry.

Harvey’s Orange Apéritif is a  blend of Bristol Cream with ‘natural orange aromas’, typically served cold or over ice. An apéritif, as you may know, is usually designed for pre-meal stimulation but, as is the case with most everything else, the Wine Fugitive tends to break the ‘rules’ in favor for what tastes good.

Now, it would only be fair to forewarn you… don’t go pouring yourself a glass of this stuff to go with your desert. This stuff is heavily fortified. I prefer mine in a shot glass, just enough to wash down my snack.

For the bagel, I prefer whole wheat mini-bagels, with a slightly thicker layer of cream cheese than the Nutella. All three of these should be readily available at just about any major grocery store. I’m still surprised  at how good this really is.

I’m not a big appliance guy. I don’t really use the microwave, prefer a J.A. Henckels to a food processor, and don’t even know how to turn on that 40 lb mixing bowl on the bottom shelf.

But my $25 panini grill, that’s gourmet. I can make some of the most fabulous carb-wrapped meals this side of the Mississippi with a square foot of counter space and an electrical outlet.

I prefer using a lot of precut and premade ingredients to save time for meals like this. Places like Target carry a great selection of flavored breads, today the pick being a cilantro and thyme flatbread.

Cream Cheese Chicken Panini

Precook some boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or turkey cutlets. Slice a few vine-ripened tomatos and stack them on a piece of flatbread coated in cream cheese. If you want to add a little additional flavoring, sprinkle some dill weed and maybe a little minced garlic over the cream cheese. 8-10 minutes on the panini grill and you’re all done.

For daily drinkers, I almost always stay under $20, and more often than not I can find some pretty decent wines cheaper than that. Today I selected a newer brand I hadn’t seen before, Middle Sister. The Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer mix was actually quite good for a newer white table wine.

Overall, I’d say it’s a little over-mixed but a great starter wine. It seems to be trying too hard to balance itself between a crisp, dry white and a smoother sweet wine and, while that isn’t too bad for a standalone, it didn’t really go all that well with the sandwich.

Ménage à Trois & Middle Sister, not the most tactful combination of brand names.

The other $12 wine, Ménage à Trois’ white table wine was my second selection for pairing with the cream cheese and chicken sandwich. Ménage à Trois has been making affordable table wines for quite some time now, and seem to have struck a pretty good balance between the Chardonnay, Muscat and Chenin Blanc in the blend.

I’d have to say the Ménage à Trois went best with the panini, blending right in with each bite, while the Middle Sister overwhelmed the sandwich with a bolder scent and a strong, bitter aftertaste.

Total Cost for Two People: $25.00
Total Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes.

Step 1: The Bubbly
No other drink optimizes the fine art of celebration like champagne. It’s a great aperitif and tends to steer your guests towards the celebratory frame of mind and away from the more critical “I can’t believe you’re cutting the turkey that way” mindset.

There’s also something to be said about the quality of champagne you serve here. Please keep in mind that cheap champagnes do wonders to upset peoples’ stomachs, give them headaches and a wide-variety of other possible ailments. Since they’re more likely to be sipping the bubbly (well, everyone except Aunt Agnes) you don’t need a lot so go ahead and splurge on some White Star and steer far, far away from the Andre you saw on special at the gas station.

Step 2: Pairing The Turkey
Both oven-baked and fried turkey is a unique meat in that it pairs well with both red and white wines, which can be used to shorten your wine selection if you’re on a tighter budget. It’s also a very dry (which your mother-in-law will remind you of throughout the night) meat so it goes well with a variety of crisp whites like pinot grigio and Riesling, as well as several reds like zinfandel and pinot noir.

Step 3: The Sides
Here is where you’ll want to offer a variety of pairable wines and let your guests choose from here. Perhaps a small, handwritten pairing note on an index card near the bottle will be able to help guide them in the right directions. I would definitely have a bottle of chardonnay on hand for the smokier flavored dishes and some sauvignon blanc for the creamier based dishes.

Step 4: The Deserts
If you can nail down a desert wine with a medium sweetness it’s possible to offer only one wine for 3 or 4 deserts, though offering two distinctively different wines here will be a better option for a large group of guests.

Specifically, any Muscat or Concorde or even fruit wine (growing more readily available from boutique wineries) would be a great choice for Thanksgiving desert. While I rarely point out specific wines, if you could possibly get your hands on a bottle of Royal Tokaji for every 3-4 guests, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor. I’ve not tasted a desert wine I’ve enjoyed more in my entire life.

How to pair wine for vegetarians

Most of the common wine-pairing knowledge available online and through word-of-mouth is typically centered around meat as the primary ingredient of the meal. With Vegetarianism on the rise, learning to pair wine with vegan meals can be more than challenging.

Wines To Avoid:
The first step of learning to pair vegetables and wine is to identify the wines you should stay away from. Any robust reds, like cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, are better with heavier meat dishes and typically overwhelm vegetable dishes. Also, protein-free vegetarian dishes tend to taste bitter and metallic when paired with most red wines.

A Few Exceptions:
There are a few reds that can be paired with vegetarian dishes. Softer, fruity wines such as pinot noir and gamay go well with greens. Also, if you are eating an Italian dish like pizza or pasta heavier in tomatoes, you would do well with a Tuscan Chianti.

Also, any wine made with the sangiovese grape (like Chianti or Brunello di Montalcino) can be paired with richer dishes but this is definitely a more advanced wine pairing technique so don’t try these for the first time when hosting a dinner party. Testing it out on in-laws, of course, is perfectly acceptable.

Ok, so who cares that you pairing wine with pizza? If you take the time to make a good match, it’s just as classy and as enjoyable as any other occasion.

The key to pairing wine with any type of food is striking a balance between the boldness and flavors of the two, and the same holds true with pizza. While it’s nice to be able to pair wine with a nice, gourmet pizza, it’s not at all necessary. Both frozen pizzas and delivery are so popular because they ARE great tasting, and can just as easily be paired with wine as a more expensive gourmet pizzas.

Food and wine pairing can be pretty complicated given the vast options for wine types and cooking styles.Since there are far fewer types of pizza then there are wine varietals, the easiest thing to do when trying to pair wine and pizza is to decide on a type of pizza first.

Pairing Wine with Cheese Pizza:

This is the most basic pizza, but it’s also much more versatile than the others. Since one of the most dominant flavors in cheese pizza is the acidic tomato sauce, you’ll need a wine that’s not overloaded in tannins.

If you prefer white wines, a full-bodied Chardonnay will pair well with the bread, cheese and tomato sauce.

If you’re into reds, a Chianti Classico or Sangiovese (made from the same grape) would be one of the best possible matches for this type of pizza.

Pairing Wine with Meat Pizza:

With the exception of ham, most meat pizzas (sausage, salami, pepperoni, etc…) will have a much hardier taste to them. You don’t want a wine that is too light or smooth as it’s flavor would simply be washed away by the strong flavor of the meat.

When pairing wine with meat pizzas, look for juicy and/or crisp. Either a Chardonnay, a Pinot Grigio or Syrah would work best here.

Pairing Wine with Hawaiian Pizza:

A huge delivery favorite, this pizza is whole lot sweeter than most and really goes well with a nice Riesling. You don’t need a really sweet Reisling to balance out the flavor of the Hawaiian pizza.

If you’re not into sweet/semi-sweet wines, other wines like Sauvignon Blanc or perhaps a light-bodied Beaujolais will also taste great.

Pairing Wine with Vegetarian Pizza:

No, I haven’t forgotten about you veggie lovers. The flavors in a veggie pizza are a little more complex but not as strong as those found in a traditional meat pizza. With any kind of veggie pizza you’ll want to stay away from really bold wines.

Pinot Noir is a delicate enough that it won’t overpower the veggies but will still draw out the flavor of the sauce. You can also learn more about wine pairing tips for vegetarians here.

Pairing Wine with Pizza Leftovers:

Come on, what are we talking about here? This really is a no-brainer. Cork your bottle and throw the pizza box in the fridge and you can enjoy it again tomorrow!!! If you’re into cold leftover pizza, a cold, crisp white wine would wash it any type of pizza well, in addition to the specific pairings we mentioned above.

As with all other forms of wine pairing advice, do what tastes best. If you find Merlot and Anchovie Pizza to be the most irresistible combination in the culinary world, don’t give that up for the sake of a more “traditional” pairing.

Also, as with all types of wine pairings, don’t be afraid to experiment. Any master sommelier can scientifically piece together the best wine pairings and still not manage to create a pairing that suites your tastebuds. Drink what you like, even if it’s what everyone else says shouldn’t be paired together.