How to Look Like You Know How to Pair Wine & Food for the Holidays

Step 1: Google the phrase "best Thanksgiving wine pairings."

Step 2: Click on ALL the links and read them thoroughly.

Step 3: Get really confused by all the types of wine, conflicting opinions, and complicated side dishes that you weren't planning on making anyway.

Step 4: Resist the urge to just go to the store and buy the fist box of wine you can find.

Step 5: Go to lost Oak Winery and pick up a few bottles of your favorite wine.

As the resident wine nerd, I get asked about wine pairings all the time. Making sure that you are giving yourself and your guest the very best food and wine experience can be daunting and even anxiety inducing. My advice to everyone looking for that elusive perfect pairing is; drink what you like and get a bottle of wine you know your friends will like. There are some stead fast rules when it comes to pairing: Unoaked whites with citrusy foods, rich meats with tannic reds, sweet wines with spicy food, and your wine  for dessert needs to be sweeter than the dessert. However, my number one rule is this: If you don't like the wine, there is nothing I can pair it with to make you like it. Same goes with food, if you don't like it, there isn't a wine made that will make it better. But, there is a bright side. If there is a wine that you are on the fence about, following the rules mentioned earlier can make it a flavor explosion. My number two rule is to always try new wines with new foods. You will never come across the perfect pairing if you don't try it.



Cheers!  ~ Angela, WSET III