Wine Pairings, by Goop

As a young woman inexperienced in the ways of fine wine, I frequently ponder what the proper wine pairing for my meal might be if I one day stopped exclusively buying magnum-sized bargain wine. I am on a constant search for a good guide that will ease my graduation into an amateur sommelier. I subscribe to Gwyneth Paltrow's newsletter Goop, and last week's edition just happened to be a great question and answer with various professional sommeliers and wine merchants. The newsletter also contained an informative catalog of tasting terms excerpted from the Glossary of Bottlenotes Guide to Wine: Around the World in 80 Sips.

I encourage everyone to check out this link to Goop and learn a little something useful about wine pairings:  
http://www.goop.com/newsletter/79/en/ 

Also, here's a handy wine pairing chart from acmefood.com:

Tip: Dry wine has very little residual sugar following fermentation. Because these wines don't have an added sweetness that could adversely effect the taste of the dish, dry wines are often preferred for cooking.

Tip: My first experience with port wine was on Monday, April 23 2010. I conclude that although it makes for a tasty french onion soup, it is nasty to drink plane. It's sweeter than sweet.

Midnight snack?

 
Craving a midnight snack that's both healthy (eh, maybe) and makes you feel just a little bit European and decadent? For me, an apple, some European cheese slices and a glass of wine will always do the trick. It's simple, refreshing and just a little bit fancy. Don't forget that the truly fancy never bite into a whole apple, take the time to cut slices, with or without the skin. This is not only more refined but then you can eat an apple slice with a cheese chunk on top. Yum!!

You might even light some candles for a little ambiance.

But be sure to watch out for certain kittens with thumbs that will try to indulge by snatching your snack!