"WinePairing" news and stories

Acknowledging that even the most fastidious foodies can't say no to Popeye's spicy fried chicken, Dirty South Wine's Hardy Wallace has made the dish the centerpiece of what he claims is the world's first-ever online food-and-wine pairing competition.

"There are a lot of online wine tastings, but no one ever does pairings," Wallace explains. "As much as I love wine, it's useless without food."

Wallace has recruited five respected wine experts to submit their picks for the best vino to sip with Popeye's celebrated chicken, Cajun-battered fries and red beans and rice. He and 50 friends will sample the selections at a party next Wednesday; While the festivities will be live-streamed from Wallace's house, he's also urging wine-and-chicken lovers to play along at home and report their findings via Twitter.

At stake is the title of Dirty Bird King (or Queen) -- and a lifetime of potentially enhanced Popeye's enjoyment.

Raj Vaidya. Photo: Michael Harlan Turkell

In a career that has included wine jobs at haute dining and wine destinations Per Se, Cru and, since June, the head sommelier at Daniel Boulud's flagship New York eatery Daniel, Raj Vaidya has paired more than his share of his duck with vino.

Born in Jersey, and raised in his parents' native Bombay and Singapore, Raj's wine tutelage began well before he was of legal drinking age, enjoying vino and good food with family and company. It laid the groundwork for post-college (a degree in political science and philosophy from Rutgers University) career in the wine business, where he first started working at New Jersey's Ryland Inn and did time in the biodynamic fields at Robert Sinskey Vineyards in Napa.

As fall quickly approaches, we caught up with Raj to discuss the different elements one needs to consider when pairing wine with all those preparations of this wonderfully fatty, gamey bird, creamy foie gras and bloody duck à la presse.

Chantelle Pabros, a sommelier at Chicago's L20, is widely considered a rising star of the wine universe. Entrenched among oenophiles since leaving high school, at a mere 26 she has worked alongside world-renowned talent including chef Laurent Gras at his seafood-centric eatery. Though Chantelle has few hard and fast rules about pairing wine with food, she offered a couple tips as we head into prime grilling season. We caught up with her this afternoon to talk burgers and vino.

Do you think burgers and wine go together?
Yes, absolutely. Though we don't have burgers [at L20], I like pairing wine with them. There is this place here called Kuma's Corner. We normally drink beer there, but I am thinking about the possibilities of wines with their burgers.

How does one go about pairing the two?
With pairing, things that you think would go well don't always go. It's trial and error. I start by thinking about the classic burger, cooked medium rare with really fresh lettuce, tomato, onion and a really intense mustard.

Chantelle's five under-$25 burger-friendly wines after the jump.