This is the last class of the course, and it is also exam night, but before the exam there are eight BC wines to try whilst learning about food and wine pairing. Let’s begin!
The lineup of wines included Wild Goose ‘God’s Mountain’ Riesling 2015; Joie ‘En Famille’ Gewürztraminer 2014; Noble Ridge Reserve Chardonnay 2012; Meyer Pinot Noir 2015; Poplar Grove Merlot 2013; Laughing Stock Syrah 2014; Culmina Hypothesis 2012; and Gehringer Brothers Riesling Ice Wine 2014. I enjoyed all the wines but several really stood out.
The Wild Goose Riesling was dry and had flavours of citrus and green apple, with high acidity and hints of apricot on the long finish. I have been looking for this particular iteration of the Wild Goose Riesling (‘God’s Mountain’) but I haven’t been able to find it yet in stores.
I also really enjoyed the Joie Gewürztraminer with its floral aromas and notes of lychee, peach and honey; it had flavours of apricot, baked apple and soft baking spices. This Gewürztraminer had medium acidity, it was off-dry and it had a really long finish.
The Poplar Grove Merlot never disappoints me, but beware: this is a BC Merlot with lots of tannins.
Finally, the Laughing Stock Syrah really caught my attention. Looking back at my notes I didn’t really write much down – it was full bodied with medium tannins and ripe, black fruit on the palate. If you want to know how much I liked it though, know that I went back for two tastings of it at the Vancouver International Wine Festival and I have since bought a bottle, or two…
I have one bit of constructive criticism for the WSET Level I course. I was disappointed that there were not more demonstrations with regards to the interactions between food and wine; we were given only a piece of aged cheddar to pair with one of the bigger, tannic red wines we tried in class. The rest of the discussion around food and wine pairing was all theoretical; I’ll attempt to briefly outline some of the principles here.
With sweet food you want your wine to be at least as sweet as the food itself, if not sweeter. Sweet food, or food with sugar in it, will decrease the body, sweetness and fruitiness of a wine. A full bodied red wine will taste lighter, more bitter and will lose its fruitiness when paired with something sweet. For me the best example of this is pairing red wine with chocolate; I have never understood this pairing. When I have chocolate with a full bodied red wine, the wine becomes noticeably lighter in body, less fruity and sometimes bitter; for me it’s not a favourable combination.
Foods with umami can be challenging to pair with wines. Umami is one of the five basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami) and it is described as savory. Foods that are high in umami include asparagus, eggs, mushroom, soy sauce and soft ripe cheese. Foods with umami increase the bitterness, acidity and burning effect of alcohol, therefore these foods can pair well with sweeter, less tannic wines. Adding salt to foods with umami can mitigate the effect that the food will have on a wine.
Acidity in food actually increases the perception of body, sweetness and fruitiness in the wine and decreases the perception of acidity; it can bring a wine high in acidity into balance and enhance its fruitiness. For example, pairing a tomato sauce (acidic) with a nice Chianti high in acidity will have a favourable effect on the wine.
Chili heat in food will increase the bitterness, acidity and alcohol burn in the wine, which is why spicy foods are often paired with sweeter wines.
It is often best to match the flavor intensity of food with the flavor intensity of the wine, but this is not a hard and fast rule as sometimes an intensely flavoured curry can pair well with a light, unoaked white wine.
This brings me to the end of my first course. Prior to starting this course, I had someone tell me that they wanted to take the WSET classes but they were going to skip Level I because they heard that you don’t really learn anything. I’m actually really glad that I took it and I feel that I learned a great deal. The exposure to different wines in and of itself was amazing. I also learned what qualities to expect from the noble grape varietals and I’m starting to learn how to taste wines and describe them. This course has provided a good foundation on which to build and I’m looking forward to Level II this fall.
P.S. I passed my exam!