Top Picks for Pairing Wine with Food - Your Local Liquor Store in Liverpool, NY

What Wines to Pair with Food: From Appetizers to Dessert

Natale Verga Prosecco

From our selection, we recommend the Natale Verga Prosecco, an aromatic wine with dominant notes of white flowers, peach, and honey that opens up to a creamy mousse that envelops the palate - rare in sparkling wines. The grapes for this exquisite wine come exclusively from privately owned vineyards, ensuring a consistent quality and character that is reflective of the unique terroir.

Natale Verga Prosecco also makes perfect mimosas. Match the peach and honey notes in the wine with peach puree and a touch of honey instead of the traditional orange juice for the perfect brunch cocktail.

Granite Hill Cellars Chardonnay

Moving on to the starter, a crisp California Chardonnay with fruity and vanilla notes, can enhance the flavors of a green salad dressed in a citrus vinaigrette or a delicate seafood dish like shrimp ceviche, or poached salmon. We suggest the Granite Hill Cellars Chardonnay for zesty starters. Made from 100% Chardonnay grapes from the Lodi region in California, this medium-body wine with a supple texture is bursting with tropical fruit flavors, like guava, apple, and passionfruit.

The wine's creamy consistency adds a luxurious depth, enhancing the overall experience. Aged for four months in new French oak barrels, it has a sophisticated character and a long finish, with rich vanilla bean notes that beautifully complement the lush, fruity flavors.

Carl Sittmann Riesling

If you prefer a Riesling, try the Carl Sittmann Riesling, with its aromatic blend of green apples, pears, and apricots. As it blooms on the palate, the aroma of sweet peaches comes through, balanced by crisp acidity. The Carl Sittmann Riesling, with its roots in prestigious vineyards known for producing premium Rieslings, exemplifies the sophisticated balance of sweetness and acidity.

Its ability to cut through a dish's richness while also enhancing the subtle flavors of lighter food demonstrates its versatility. Aged to perfection, this wine has a complexity and depth that enhances any dining experience, making it a must-have for those who value the subtle interplay of flavors in their wine list.

Baus Family Vineyards Pinot Noir

We recommend the Baus Family Vineyards Pinot Noir, a wine with vibrant flavors of dark cherry, plum, and raspberry layered with baking spices and loam undertones. This medium-body wine makes it easy to drink, appealing to a wide range of palates. The lush finish adds a touch of elegance, rounding off a tasting experience that is both satisfying and sophisticated.

End your fancy at-home-dinner meal with the intensity of a Cabernet Sauvignon paired with a rich chocolate lava cake or chocolate-covered strawberries, enhancing the decadent flavors.

Fog Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon,

We suggest our Fog Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, with its deep garnet hue and enticing aroma of dark red fruits. Upon tasting, it reveals a luscious combination of flavors, including dried plums, Medjool dates, red currants, and a burst of bright berry notes, making it an exquisite choice for dessert. The wine's texture is beautifully softened by round tannins, ensuring a smooth and velvety mouthfeel.

It leaves a lingering finish that makes it the perfect finale for a special meal. It has a lingering finish that makes it the ideal end to a special meal, inviting you to savor each sip as a celebration of the evening's food adventure.

Do You Need to Pair Food with Wine?

Wine and food pairing is an art that enhances the dining experience by harmonizing flavors, textures, and aromas, effectively setting the mood for the meal. For example, a rich, fatty dish might be balanced with a wine that has high acidity, cutting through the richness and refreshing the palate. The harmony between food and wine makes each bite and sip more enjoyable, contributing to a more pleasurable dining experience.

Moreover, the aroma of wine can enhance the flavors of food. Since much of what we taste is actually smelled, the right wine can make the food more aromatic and flavorful. This sensory enhancement can transform a simple meal into an unforgettable experience.

Wine and food pairings often reflect cultural traditions and seasonal ingredients, adding a layer of meaning and connection to the meal. This can create a sense of place and time, making the dining experience more immersive and memorable. Moreover, the process of choosing and discussing wine can be a social activity that adds to the dining experience. Sharing opinions about wine choices and discussing flavor profiles can be a bonding experience, encouraging conversation and interaction among diners.

Cooking With Wine

Pairing each course with a different wine might make you a bit worried that you can’t drink it all. However, there are many ways to use up a good bottle of vino to spruce up your special meal. Use it to deglaze pans, add depth to sauces, or marinate meats. Red wine works wonderfully in rich stews and tomato-based sauces, while white wine can enhance seafood dishes and creamy sauces.

Pour the leftover wine into ice cube trays and freeze it. These wine cubes can be used later in cooking, saving you from opening a new bottle when you only need a small amount for a recipe. You can also make a refreshing granita as a palate cleanser. Simply pour sweeter wines like Prosecco or Riesling into a shallow tray and freeze for a few hours, periodically scraping the tray with a fork to create a shaved ice texture.

Enhance your desserts by using leftover wine to poach fruits like pears, peaches, or plums. The wine adds a rich flavor that complements the sweetness of the fruits, making for an elegant dessert. For hot or warm desserts, reduce the wine by simmering it on low heat with some sugar until it thickens into a syrup and use it as a dessert topping, a sweet glaze for meats, or an addition to cocktails.

Food and Wine Pairings: A Love Language

Choosing the right food and wine pairings is a special way to show love, as it involves putting in effort and thought to make dining together a memorable experience. By selecting wines and dishes that will delight those you're sharing the meal with, you show them you care and want to give them a unique gift that speaks to their tastes. Sharing this meal becomes a way to spend quality time together, sparking conversations and creating cherished memories. This shared experience brings people closer and shows appreciation through the details of the meal, from the choice of wine to the preparation of food.

Explaining why certain pairings were chosen can be a way to share knowledge and express the care taken in planning the meal, adding depth to the dining experience. Pascale's Liquors, located at 7401 Oswego Road in Liverpool, NY, is your liquor and wine store for discovering alcoholic beverages that are simple to make at home. We invite you to continue your journey of taste and innovation by visiting our website at www.pascalesliquor.com or calling (315) 701-0781 for more personalized assistance.