Here’s some news we can use and abuse.  University of Alberta researchers say studies with rats suggest that drinking red wine can be as good for the heart as an hour exercising in the gym!  The compound called resveratrol is the secret.  The study was published in the peer reviewed Journal of Physiology last year.

Thank you Fred Tasker of the Tribune News Service for reporting this information!  It seems a wine club membership could be just as healthy as a gym membership.  That’s what I’m talking about!  Let’s get those hearts in shape by joining a wine club, such as the Carrera Wine Cellar Wine Club!  After all, your heart deserves it!

Speaking of strong hearts, I was reading The Hill the other day and came across an article by Derek M. LaValler.  It is titled “Fun Facts About Wine”.  In it he reported “The alcohol bill for a celebration for the 55 drafters of the Constitution represented 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of Bordeaux, 8 bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of Port, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 beers, and 7 bowls of alcohol punch large enough that ducks could swim in them.  These people must have had some strong hearts!

I think I will honor the Constitution and drink more wine.  It will be good for my heart and patriotic too!

Cheers,
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Hoosier Wine Guy

The Girl Scout cookies are here, making this my favorite time of the year.  I get to combine two of my favorite things, Girl Scout cookies and wine.  The folks behind the Vivino Wine App started this magical mystery tour and I am glad they did.  You can Google their 12 pairing and follow their lead or be brave and branch out on your own.

For those of you that are going to forge your own cookie pairing path, I will give you some things to keep in mind.  Wine has four essential components: acidity, tannin, alcohol, and sweetness (or lack thereof).  These same four components are also found in foods.  So when it comes to pairing wines with various foods, the idea is to find flavor profiles that complement each other, either through contrasting elements or matching similar ones.  You are basically looking for similar or opposite.

Here are a few of the pairings they suggested:

Thin Mints – Brunello
I am not so sure about this one.  I think a Port would be better for my taste, or maybe a good craft beer.

Tagalongs – Amarone
I thought the Tagalong destroyed my precious Amarone.  But then again, Amarone is a go to wine for me and I do not like to mess around with it.  I would suggest an ice wine.

Trefoils – German Riesling
This was a great match for me.  I really like Rieslings.  I have written before how versatile they are for food pairings.  Touch down!!!

Do-Si- Dos – Zinfandel
Peanut butter and jelly fans, this is a match for you.  The fruit bomb you get from the Zinfandel makes you think you are eating a PB&J.

In pairing wine and Girl Scout cookies, I think less expensive wines work best.  They tend to have small amounts of residual sugar and softeners.  Malbec’s are a good match for several types of cookies. They seem to have just enough tannin, sugar, and acidity to be flexible.  Of course, my old fried Riesling works well with many of the cookies.  Good old versatile Riesling.

Good luck on your journey and be sure to pop into Carrera Wine Cellar.  CWC has the wines to travel with!

For the month of February, the wine flight will be paired with a Girl Scout cookie.
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Cheers!
Hoosier Wine Guy

I came across a chart the other day.  It ranks the countries by the per person consumption of wine.

The Vatican is number one.  I am not sure how they are doing it, but I do know they are kicking our behinds here in this country.  It must be all those state functions or it could be all the church services.  Wine is used at every mass to symbolize the blood of Christ.  I sure hope it is not because of my fellow altar boys and I.  We might have sneaked into the sacrificial wine from time to time, but I’m pretty sure they could not trace that.

I have listed below a few countries and their ranking by bottles of wine consumed per person, per year.

#1    Vatican City State     89
#3    France                         71
#6    Italy                             67
#27 Germany                     32
#34 United Kingdom        26
#47 Canada                        16
#57 United States              13

#57! Come on we can do better than that.  Men it falls on us.  The women are doing their part.  The chart below puts it on us.

Consumed Most Often
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                  Beer       Wine         Liquor
Men           55%        20%          21%
Women     23%        52%          22%

Carrera Wine Cellar is committed to having the inventory to help us rise above 57th place.  Come on in and help your country.  USA! USA! USA!

Cheers!
Hoosier Wine Guy

Certified sommelier Kristian LaPlante starts his wine course with the phrase “Wine is food, food is wine.”  By doing so, he is emphasizing how important wine is at an Italian meal.  The two are joined at the hip.  I believe in all of Europe, this could be regarded as true.  Europeans in the big three European countries (France, Italy, and Spain) like to have wine at almost every meal and drink ten times more wine than consumers in the United States.  I do not believe they are sweating out the details of an exact perfect pairing of food and wine every time.  I have several books on pairings and have been trying to learn what makes the perfect paring between wine and food.  Could we Americans be overthinking this?  No, not us!  On your wine and food journey you will discover matches made in heaven.  Relax and let these matches come to you.  Andre Robinson believes if there is food on the table and an uncorked bottle of wine, there is a match.

What is wine’s secret weapon?  What makes it join so well with food?  Tony Porcellini will tell you wine’s acidity is the key to its love affair with food.  Acidity is like a turbocharger for flavor and in such, makes your mouth water.  When your mouth waters, the enzymes in your saliva break down the food unlocking the flavors, making the food taste better.

Chefs know the secret of acidity.  It is no accident that nearly every famous sauce uses some acidic ingredient to enhance flavors: wine, vinegar, tomatoes, mustard, and lemon juice.  Examples would include using lime with Mexican and pickled ginger with Thai food and sushi.

I think we understand the benefits of acidity without thinking about it.  We squeeze lemon on fish, put pickles on a hamburger, and Worcestershire sauce on a steak.

Thanks to acidity, wine is the beverage for food.
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A few simple pairings from Andrea Immer Robinson:
Potluck supper – Beaujolais
Saturday stir-fry – Pinot Grigio
Backyard barbecue – Red Zinfandel
Fridge leftovers – Chianti

PS. Do not forget our friend Riesling!

Cheers!
Hoosier Wine Guy