I am certain this has happened to most of us before. It happens to me quite a bit…dinner as usual, I go to pull a bottle of a wine that requires no thought, only to discover that all I have in my fridge are wines that I would just hate to open tonight, either because they don’t normally go alongside ribs or chicken al’la whatever, or because they are simply better than the food or too young to open, right? All of the sudden I find myself rethinking dinner, adding an ingredient  to class it up, or ordering in something to work better with the wine (usually the lowest on the totem pole of quality that I keep at home) and I hate that, especially since I don’t want to open a wine simply to have wine, or to be honest, because my wife will look at me like I have two heads and say “cheap Bordeaux and crab cakes?”  Aaaarggggg, you would think since we are in this business, we would always have just the right wine for all occasions, but I am here to tell you, we don’t….or at least, I don’t.

 Which leads me to the point of this blog….odd combos (or personal discoveries). Got any to share? I have found that I love a few ‘pairings’ and have stuck with them because they work! Olives and Sherry, yep, anyone can do that…..olives and Chateauneuf, especially with a dish of roasted red peppers? Spicy food and Grenache? Sushi and Sherry? Clams Casino and Bandol? How about this gem…..Scrambled eggs, medium, with mushrooms (or mushrooms sautéed in butter, garlic and a dash of good quality truffle oil) turned in at the last moment, paired with Bordeaux, especially old vintages…..Man, I love this job!