Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food 
asked by mountaindew on November 3, 2006 1:37 PM
As thousands of wines from around the globe enter the marketplace and the American palate continues to adopt flavors from a range of cultures, the task of pairing wine and food becomes increasingly complicated. No longer is the choice simply red or white, or wines from California, France, or Italy. The typical shopper today has access to wines from those regions plus South Africa, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia. If that isn't confusing enough, Asian, Latin American, and Creole dishes might find their way onto the same table. Perfect Pairings, by well-known Master Sommelier and respected restaurant industry veteran Evan Goldstein, provides straightforward, practical advice for choosing the right bottle for each meal. The quintessential resource for matching wine and food, this book includes 58 companion recipes developed by celebrated chef Joyce Goldstein that showcase each type of wine.
Perfect Pairings combines in-depth explorations of twelve grape varietals, sparkling wines, and dessert wines with guidance about foods that enhance the wide range of styles for each varietal. Whether the Chardonnay is earthy and flinty; rich, buttery, and oak-infused; fruity and tropical; or aged and mature, Goldstein explains how to match it with dishes that will make the wine sing. His clear, educational, and entertaining approach towards intimidating gastronomical questions provides information for all readers, professional and amateur alike.
¥ 16 full-color photos
¥ Six seasonal and special occasion menus
¥ Tips for enhancing food and wine experiences, both at home and in restaurants
¥ Glossary of wine terminology
¥ Overview of the world's primary wine-growing regions
¥ Recommendations of more than five hundred wines, ranging in price from everyday to splurge
Perfect Pairings combines in-depth explorations of twelve grape varietals, sparkling wines, and dessert wines with guidance about foods that enhance the wide range of styles for each varietal. Whether the Chardonnay is earthy and flinty; rich, buttery, and oak-infused; fruity and tropical; or aged and mature, Goldstein explains how to match it with dishes that will make the wine sing. His clear, educational, and entertaining approach towards intimidating gastronomical questions provides information for all readers, professional and amateur alike.
¥ 16 full-color photos
¥ Six seasonal and special occasion menus
¥ Tips for enhancing food and wine experiences, both at home and in restaurants
¥ Glossary of wine terminology
¥ Overview of the world's primary wine-growing regions
¥ Recommendations of more than five hundred wines, ranging in price from everyday to splurge
Reviews
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It seems that years ago there was a lot of discussion about what foods went with what wines. They that seemed to go away with the advice to drink what you like whenever and with whatever you want. But that just didn't seem to work. Sometimes the food or the wine would so overpower the other that they just did not want to go together.
With this book, perhaps the times are changing again as this book does explain what pairs up better with what. Furthermore the book is well laid out so that as you plan a meal it is easy to choose a wine to go with that particular dish you've selected. Or you can do it backwards, you just got a case of Oregon Pinot Gris, you can go find several recipies that go will with the wine.
Each wine also includes a lexicon of taste descriptors associated with that varietal. But I've go to admit that when I taste Pinot Gris I don't find lemon, lime, green melon, green apple, pear, pineapple, peach, yellow plum, kumquat, loquat (I don't even know what this is), star fruit or tangerine flavors. In fact I sometimes think that they select these flavors in their descriptions by throwing a dart at a basket of fruit.
With this book, perhaps the times are changing again as this book does explain what pairs up better with what. Furthermore the book is well laid out so that as you plan a meal it is easy to choose a wine to go with that particular dish you've selected. Or you can do it backwards, you just got a case of Oregon Pinot Gris, you can go find several recipies that go will with the wine.
Each wine also includes a lexicon of taste descriptors associated with that varietal. But I've go to admit that when I taste Pinot Gris I don't find lemon, lime, green melon, green apple, pear, pineapple, peach, yellow plum, kumquat, loquat (I don't even know what this is), star fruit or tangerine flavors. In fact I sometimes think that they select these flavors in their descriptions by throwing a dart at a basket of fruit.
reviewed by bethness on November 17, 2006 6:00 AM
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PERFECT PAIRINGS: A MASTER SOMMELIER'S PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR PARTNERING WINE WITH FOOD isn't for the casual cook: it's the item of choice for home cooks who are well beyond the basics and seek to understand the underlying logic of pairing foods with the wines available from around the world. Evan Goldstein is a restaurant industry veteran, as is his wife, so PERFECT PAIRINGS comes from a professional's point of view and offers the depth of perception on some twelve grape varietals paired with over fifty recipes by chef Joyce that other books couldn't touch in a wine analysis alone. Explanations of food and wine pairings focus on the elements which bring both to life with excellent pointers on other desirable pairings.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
reviewed by jbritt on November 19, 2006 5:34 AM
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I bought this book for my daughter who is a great cook. Upon returning home from a trip to Italy recently, she remarked to me that she wished she knew what kind of wine to order with her dinner. Now she knows. I have lost count at how many times she has thanked me for the book and told me how much she is enjoying it.
reviewed by nat on November 22, 2006 8:38 AM
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I'm writing this minutes after a sublime experience, drinking Evan Goldstein's recommended fruit-forward Pinot Noir with Joyce Goldstein's incredibly good recipe for Pork Loin Glazed with Pomegranate and Orange. I actually Googled Evan's name because I wanted to send him some fan e-mail -- alas, couldn't find an address. So the least I can do is give the book an excellent review. I learned more about pairing wine and food in the book's first chapter than I have after years of subscribing to wine publications. Two thumbs up!
reviewed by literary on November 27, 2006 1:07 AM