26 Aug Food & Wine

Now that we have finished two exquisite release dinners complete with great food and wine at both Woodinville and the Vancouver tasting room and restaurant operations, it is time to talk about the importance of food and wine. Why did Brian Carter Cellars invest in food preparation on top of making and selling wine? What is it about combining food and wine that make for such a great marriage? How are they similar? How are they different? On a personal note: which do I enjoy more, both to consume and to make?

First, wine is food! Perhaps not the most nutritious choice, but for many of us one of the most enjoyable parts of a meal. Indeed, food itself is one of the most enjoyable aspects of life, and one that is required for our existence. While wine is not a necessity of life, it shares with food the fact that one can have an excess of either. Wine is only one type of food, a simple one in fact, it being derived from essentially one ingredient- Grapes while dinner recipes can have dozens of ingredients, and a single meal can. Include many different recipes. One only needs to go to the grocery store to realize that food is infinitely complex. While wine is just one simple food, it is of course, a very interesting one and in many ways is infinitely complex in its own way. As I am fond of saying you can study wine for a lifetime and never know everything there is to know about it. From the microbiology and chemistry of the soils to the microbiology and chemistry of the wine, from the aspect of a small vineyard in Burgundy to the talents of a given winemaker, you will never know it all.

Instead of contrasting wine and food, a far more interesting topic is how well they go together. While there are other beverages that can enhance a meal, 95% of the best meals I have had combined food with wine. I could also say that 95% of the best wines I have had were combined with a meal. Let’s face it: wine makes food taste better and food makes wine taste better. It is the very definition of synergy. A lesson can be learned by looking at an example of how wine interacts with food in your mouth. A frequent example I give is how a high acid wine such as Tuttorosso can pair so wonderfully with salmon, where this full flavored and high acid content fish is so enjoyed at the first bite but tends to overwhelm the taste buds after several bites. When you take a sip of wine after eating salmon it refreshes your palate, preparing it for another bite.  In this way a bite of fish followed by a sip of wine and so forth makes every bite just like the first one, a true delight. Similarly, in the case of red wine and red meat, the astringency combined with acidity of the red wine will refresh your palate between bites.

A lot of energy is spent on food and wine pairing, and it is a subject well worth exploring. Not all foods can be paired with all wines, and if you do have a particularly successful pairing, it can take the experience of food and wine to a whole new height. The fun part is trying different things and discovering new combinations. It means some trial and error, but when it works there are few things more satisfying. As Julia Child said about cooking: “…. learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.” There is one more important aspect of combining food and wine: it is far healthier to consume food when enjoying wine than to have wine by itself, and safer too.

From a personal standpoint, it is a tough choice for me which I enjoy more, winemaking or cooking. One of course is a profession for me, the other a hobby. However, if I had not become a winemaker, I think I would have enjoyed being a chef, the two have so much in common. Each is such a magical combination of art and science. I compare spending time in the vineyard to spending time in the garden or at the market. I compare chopping and slicing to crushing and pressing. Most of all I compare seasoning the dish to the wine blending process, these exercises are the true art of cooking and winemaking.
Despite my profession as a winemaker, so much of my life revolves around food. Now that Brian Carter Cellars has two tasting rooms both with restaurants, this has become even more the case. I have spent four and a half decades making wine…. I think if I had the chance, I might do something different, make food for a living. Probably too late for a second career!