Wine Pairings for America's Favorite Dishes

The value of the U.S. wine market is expected to hit around $ 33.5 billion with 871 million gallons of wine sold per year by 2013 according to the U.S. Wine Market Forecast to 2012. Americans love wine, almost as much as food. Author of the best-selling book Good Better Best Wines, Carolyn Evans Hammond offers perfect wine and food pairing suggestions for the following favorite dishes. All wines are widely available coast-to-coast for $15 or less:

Cheeseburgers:

Trapiche Broquel Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina ($14)
Shining purple black in the glass suggesting oil-like density, this voluptuous wine exudes pronounced aromas of grilled beef, creamy mocha, and the slightest hint of dry licorice root before sliding across the palate with intense flavours of flame-grilled rib-eye, bitter chocolate, espresso, and dry earth marbled with bright black and red berries. Brambly fruit stays on the finish for what seems like days. Quite gratifying wine. And perfect for flame-grilled or broiled cheeseburgers. Full body with 14 percent alcohol.

Pizza:

Citra Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC, Abruzzo, Italy ($6)
Such great value! Lush aromas of berries and plum lead to sweetly-fruited black cherry and leather flavours with a soft, silky texture and fresh, palate-cleansing acidity—to match the tomato sauce. This stellar food wine finishes with peppercorn and a slightly bitter black olive note to seaon pizza beautifully. Medium-to full-bodied with 13 percent alcohol.

Bratwurst:

Beringer Third Century Pinot Noir, Central Coast, California, USA ($12)
Lush nose of super-ripe raspberries leads to a ripe raspberry jam palate that evolves toward flavours of violet, beetroot, and earthy woodlands resonating on the finish. Pinot Noir lovers will appreciate the subtle nod to this noble variety’s heartland—Burgundy. Full-bodied with 13.9 percent alcohol. Just the thing for Bratwurst!

Bacon:

Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages AC, Burgundy, France ($10)
Wafting aromas of fresh strawberries and candy floss lead to refreshing wild strawberry, ripe raspberry, and red apple flavours. Bright, fruity, easy wine that’s made to quaff and quench rather than sip and ponder—perfect match for salty bacon. Medium-bodied with 12.5 percent alcohol.

Tomato Soup:

Bella Sera Chianti DOCG, Tuscany, Italy ($10)
Tumbling flavors and aromas of cherry, raspberry, earth, sea salt, and white pepper characterize this classic, honest-value wine that could pair beautifully with any style of tomato soup. Medium-bodied with 12.5 percent alcohol.

In Good Better Best Wines, Evans Hammond is the first critic to rank the best-selling wines in America, by price point and grape variety, up to $15 per bottle. She is available to offer tasting notes and descriptions, as well as provide pairings for additional dishes.

About the Author:
Wine book author, sommelier, and critic Carolyn Evans Hammond first fell in love with wine during her first trip to France many moons ago when she picnicked in the vineyards of the Cotes du Rhone. Now she makes wine accessible with her witty and light approach to the topic.

Carolyn’s latest book, Good Better Best Wines, soared to the #2 wine guide at Amazon.com within weeks of its release. It is the first book to rank the best-selling wines in the United States, with tasting notes and bottle images (April, 2010, $12.95, Alpha Books). Watch the trailer at www.goodbetterbestwines.com

Her first book, 1000 Best Wine Secrets, is a fascinating compilation of trade secrets designed to illuminate the topic and help wine drinkers make more satisfying wine choices. It too is a best-seller, earning critical acclaim and international distribution (October, 2006, $12.95, Sourcebooks, Inc.).

As well as an author, Carolyn’s reviews and critical articles have appeared in such eminent magazines as Decanter, and Wine & Spirit International in the United Kingdom, as well as Maclean’s, Taste, and Tidings in Canada. She issues a weekly newsletter, publishes a blog on her website http://www.wine-tribune.com, runs a Facebook wine club, twitters, and conducts seminars and private consultations.

Constantly learning, Carolyn spends much of her time tasting wine and meeting with winemakers and other industry professionals. She is a member of the Wine Writers’ Circle of Canada; she holds the Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in the UK; and she earned a BA from York University where she studied English and Philosophy. She has lived in many cities in North America and Europe, and now resides in Toronto, where she was born.

Good Better Best Wines, A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines
ISBN: 9781592579778, Alpha Books, April 2010, $12.95
Author: Carolyn Evans Hammond