Food and Wine Pairings

Popcorn may not be the first food pairing that comes to mind when drinking wine, but Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson thinks it's time to change that.

"Popcorn is great with wine," said Robinson, who discovered the pairing when she was first starting out at New York's International Wine Center.

"I went into the kitchen to microwave some popcorn, and there was a free bottle of Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay. It was my first 'Aha!' wine pairing moment." Here are some of Robinson's favorite wine-and-popcorn flavor combinations.

• Thyme popcorn or pesto popcorn with Napa Cabernet. Pesto will bring out the Cabernet's cedar notes, and is a great meat-free bridge to big red wines.
• Wasabi popcorn + Riesling. The wine counterbalances wasabi's heat.
• Paprika or hickory with Pinot Noir. Smoky elements complement the spice notes in a Pinot.
• Aged gouda popcorn with barrel-fermented Chardonnay. "Eating aged gouda with barrel-fermented Chardonnay is like eating unsweetened crème brûlée!"

Have you ever tried eating popcorn alongside a glass of vino?

Source: Flickr User Mike Miley

Ever thought to pair food and wine based on what you can see? Probably not. When it comes to senses utilized in pairing wine with food, sight isn't the first to come to mind. But at one of this week's SF Chefs seminars, wine expert Gilian Handelman stressed the importance of visual cues when combining food and drink.

Through a simple exercise, Handelman — who is the director of wine education for Kendall-Jackson — demonstrated how produce and wines with similar pigmentation make ideal partners for one another. To see what that exercise was — you can recreate it at home as a learning tool yourself! — read more.