Pairing Wine with the Foods you are Serving.

 I love wine.  Red wine to be more specific.   I do not consider myself a wine connoisseur just a wine lover.  I often tell my friends that I began drinking red wine for the medicinal purposes, but that is not why I continue to drink it!  I broke all the rules.  I drank red wine with everything.  My favorite red wine category is Cabernet Sauvignon.  I started my wine drinking journey with Cabernets, specifically a Mondavi wine, and I continue to come back to it as my favorite.  Unfortunately for me, or maybe fortunately, I have begun to find red wines too warming to drink in the summer months.  Something has changed for me recently (I will not expound on the woes of getting older), and my favorite red wine does not sit well with me during the summer. 

I have been forced to expand my wine tastes.  I am at the beginning of this part of my journey.  I go to wine tastings at our local wine shop and order different wines when I eat out.  I am still not fond of white wines, so I continue to steer clear of them, but I am drinking lighter Merlots and Rose's.  Their are so many other choices as well that I haven't even begun to explore.  I have begun to realize that food and wine pairing is important to truly enjoying wine with your meals.  Therefore I have added this tool from Natalie MacLean.

Use the tool above to explore trying different wines with different foods.  And read the Springtime Wines article to get ideas of some lighter wines that go well with barbecued meats and summer salads.