"wine pairings" news and stories

Do you serve red or white wine with Thanksgiving dinner? After all, the wine served with dinner can sometimes make or break your turkey feast.

The editors over at YumSugar have asked wine expert Eugenio Jardim for his suggestions. From mashed potatoes to pumpkin pie, he's got you covered.

10 Exceptional Thanksgiving Food and Wine Pairings

Wine with burgers? Why the heck not!

When Jeffrey Starr, co-author of the book "Burger Parties: Recipes from Sutter Home Winery's Build A Better Burger Contest" (Ten Speed Press, $20) and culinary director of Sutter Home Winery, sent us a cheat sheet of burger-wine pairings, at first we did a double-take. But as we mulled over the suggested match-ups by Starr it began to make sense. Suddenly we wanted to order out for swordfish burgers and grab a chilled bottle of Chardonnay from the fridge (one of Starr's suggested burger-wine pairings).

Starr is careful to state that the art of pairings can be very self-designed. And there are not always specific rules in place. But one thing is for certain: "You can have wine with something as ordinary as hamburgers," he says. "A lot of times burgers have spicy components and sweet components." Before you grab any old wine to uncork, consider, too, what's mashed into the burger, or what's between the meat and the bun (such as hot sauce, garden veggies or a specific kind of cheese).

"People feel like they have to have the RIGHT wine with food," says Starr. "Quite frankly, food and wine pairing is overrated. If it tastes good to you, it's good."

His burger-and-wine-pairing picks after the jump, take 'em or leave 'em...

There's a wine book for lots of food-pairing needs -- but what about the foods that don't fall into specific categories like desserts, cheeses, meats or fish? There are a lot of what we like to call "in between" snacks that deserve a wine marriage too. Jeanette Hurt and Jaclyn Stuart understand that -- and it's what motivated them to co-author "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine and Food Pairing" (Alpha Books, $16.95). It published on June 1. its pocket size is perfect for toting along on a summer road trip.

We got a hold of Stuart, director of wine education at Third Coast Wine Werks and a certified sommelier, and picked her brain for some food and wine pairing ideas not on most wine critics' radars.

Hurt is a widely published freelance writer (about all things food and wine) and a book author. Her other books include The Cheeses of California, The Cheeses of Wisconsin, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cheeses of the World and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tapas.

Stuart's favorite pairings after the jump...

A seder meal during the Passover holiday is a great excuse to sip kosher wines. Over the last few years, their quality has dramatically increased from subpar table wines to spectacular wines that are suitable for year-round drinking.

After the jump, find are our eight favorites – and a suggested food pairing for each.

With the spring season around the corner, we're already looking forward to more chilled whites. And as much as a Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel jazzes up pizza, so do some white varietals. In developing this list we looked for white wines with viscosity, complexity and legs – ones that aren't shy and can stand up to tomato-based sauces, rich mozzarella and an abundance of toppings, from spicy sausage to basil leaves.

After the jump, five of our favorites.