The High-Low Holiday Pairings Wine Pros Love
Photo by Tristan Gassert/Unsplash Drink Features Wine Pairing
The holidays are the time when you want to put your shiniest, most gilded and fabulous foot forward, when you want to buy the nicest bottles of wine you can reasonably afford: Now is not the time for the experimental piquettes when you’re thinking about wine pairings, folks.
That Champagne or Barolo can be the centerpiece of your celebration, no matter what you’re serving and when. But let’s be real: Are you really going to be that guy serving up grass-fed chateaubriand alongside your bottle of choice? Because if so, can I come over?
I’m more of the slamming a glass of rosé while cramming a Pop Tart in my mouth before shit hits the fan at 8 a.m. on Christmas morning type of gal—and it seems I’m in good company in the wine business.
Read on for what winemakers, chefs, sommeliers, et al. are really pairing with their favorite sips when they break out the good stuff with friends and loved ones morning, noon and night until 2024 hits and we all have to start thinking about behaving again.
Cocktail Snacks
Do “dinner parties” where everyone sits down around a big table and makes their way through three to five courses even happen anymore? A mainstay of Boomer and elder Gen X adulthood, it seems that most of the rest of us get together in our homes for tarted-up grazing sessions with mass quantities of drinks and foods we love.
Chips and dip, in a variety of gourmet forms, are a foundational part of the nouveau dinner party pyramid.
Remi Cohen, CEO of Napa’s Domaine Carneros, swears by pairing dry sparkling wine with good acidity—like Domaine Carneros Brut—with potato chips and dip.
“The flavors complement each other well, and the texture of the bubbles plays well with the crispness of the chips,” Cohen says. “I’m a particular fan of chips and onion dip because the zesty, fruity flavors of the wine with toasty, brioche notes is the perfect accompaniment for a creamy, salty and crunchy treat.”
She’s not the only one reaching for terroir-driven, meticulously farmed wines… and a bag of crisped salty bliss. Jeffrey Bruce Atkins Sr., a.k.a. the acclaimed Grammy-winning rapper, actor and entrepreneur Ja Rule, recently released his very own vino in collaboration with vintner Ross Reedy: Red Rose Cabernet Sauvignon, a limited-edition offering made from old vines in Alexander Valley that has already drawn acclaim for its “restraint,” “polished tannins” and “bright finish.”
With a foot in both the late-night go-go-go entertainment world and wine, Ja Rule is particularly experienced in the art of high-low casual wine pairing parties. His rec with Sonoma Cab?
“Cheez-Its,” he tells Paste. “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. It’s my favorite.”
He’s not wrong: That complex ur-cheddar, savory, toasty, salt bomb of the O.G. Cheez-It perfectly balances the blackcurrant, black cherry and velvety tannins of the Red Rose Cabernet.
Melissa Smith, founder of Enotrias Elite Sommelier Services, and a lady who regularly works with a who’s who of Silicon Valley power brokers on their private cellars, personally opts for Barolo and butter-and-Parmesan-slathered popcorn when she’s hanging with friends.
Piedmont’s most famous red wine, made with Nebbiolo grapes, is structured and powerful, with notes of red and black cherries, rose petals, raspberries, pepper, leather and licorice. When it’s got some age (more than five years), you’ll find truffles, mushrooms and porcini in the glass. All of these flavors play well with the complexity of Parmesan: salty and sharp, nutty, with red fruit flavors. On top of buttery popcorn, the Barolo cuts through the richness, inviting another sip and bite. And another.
Deviled eggs, a holiday buffet mainstay, need a lively companion. Justin Prairie, sommelier and wine manager at the modern Indian restaurant Baar Baar in L.A., won’t host a get-together without his mother’s signature smoked salmon eggs.
“I find that the lively mineral undertones pair well with an Austrian Gruner Veltliner from Wachau, which has gneiss-rich terroir,” Prairie says. “The wine enhances the flavors of the deviled eggs, brimming with smoked salmon and herbs. There’s a harmonious equilibrium where the wine’s vibrant acidity and medium-plus body compliment the egg’s lush and creamy filling.”
Laid-Back Grazing Dinners
Chateaubriand may not be on the menu at your next holiday party, but we’re betting that some of these wine pro faves will be.
High-quality ramen, whether you have the time to create it from scratch or lean into the higher-end grocery store noodle packs, has become a staple for the instant hit of pleasure the spicy, salty, umami-rich (ideally al dente) noodles deliver.
In his off hours, Paul Arangorin, executive chef at Paso Robles winery Halter Ranch, pairs spicy instant noodles like Shin Rayun or Buldak with a GSM like Halter Ranch CDP or another Grenache-driven blend. The red and blue fruit-forward, herby red wine will offset the richness of the broth and won’t overpower the spice and flavor of the dish as other reds can.
But sometimes the best party food is the savory, meal-in-a-package kind that can be eaten standing up while holding a glass of wine and catching up on the latest Taylor-Travis gossip and micro-movements in the confoundingly intricate felony (91 counts across two state courts and two federal districts) cases against Donald Trump, often in the same breath.
Hand-held meat pies—empanadas, pastilla, mini chicken pot pies, xian bing, saltenas—are not only perfect pockets of flavorful comfort in the winter, they are ideal for standing, sipping and chatting.
Matt Sands, winemaker at Napa’s Lithology and Waypoint, loves pairing cool-climate Pinot Noir with the meat pie native to his homeland of New Zealand.
“Being a Kiwi through and through, nothing beats mince pies around the holidays,” Sands says. “Originally filled with meat and now with ingredients like dried fruit, nuts and spices, I love pairing these with earthy, cool-climate Pinot Noirs like the Waypoint from Fort Ross Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast.”
And if your idea of cooking right amid the holiday crunch entails a call to your favorite pizza parlor, we’ve got you covered.
“I love drinking Albert Boxler “Brand” Grand Cru around the holidays because it’s an exceptionally powerful interpretation of the grape variety,” says Bijan Ghiai, the beverage manager-sommelier at Salt Lake City’s Urban Hill. “The bright acidity and transformative sweet notes of this Riesling pair exquisitely with a piping hot New York slice of pepperoni and jalapeño pizza, drizzled with a touch of hot honey. The wine’s vibrancy enhances the piquant richness of the cheese, the savory elements of the pepperoni and the earthy profile of the peppers.”
If Ghiai is in the mood for a red, he grabs a Napa Cabernet. But what to pair with it?
“Somewhat controversial I know, but I think the best pairing is unequivocally American,” Ghiai says. “The classic Philly cheesesteak. It harmonizes beautifully with the power and structure of wines from top producers, like Joseph Phelps, Diamond Creek, or MacDonald Vineyards. [There’s] the Maillard reaction-infused steak, the umami from the sauteed mushrooms, and a lush twang from the pièce de résistance—Cheez Whiz. This fusion of flavors and textures creates a symphony that resonates loudly and beautifully.”
Late-Night Munchies
As the party staggers to its (hopefully graceful) denouement and only the diehards remain, the random, bright, grabbable sweets find their way, mysteriously, onto the table.
Ricardo Zarate Jr., director of operations at Valentina in Encinitas, California, loves pairing the classic, rich Spanish dessert wine Pedro Ximenez Jerez with Canelitas, but any simple holiday sugar cookie would do the trick.
“Pairing wine with a sweet snack should always be done when the wine is sweeter than the dessert,” he explains. “Otherwise, the flavor profiles of both the food and the wine feel off. The cinnamon spiciness of Canelitas cookies cut through the dried fruit syrup quality of the Jerez.”
For Marika Vida-Arnold, who spent years working holiday shifts as wine director at the Ritz-Carlton New York and Philadelphia until venturing off as a consultant at Vida Et Fils Wine Consulting, is especially adept at unexpected high-low wine pairings.
Pouilly-Fumé, a Sauvignon Blanc produced in the Loire Valley region of the same name, is celebrated for its bright citrus notes and rich flavors of orchard fruit, brioche and smoke. Because it’s so complex, it can be paired with an array of cheeses, seafood and spicy dishes. Vida prefers to enjoy it with Junior Mints, though, with the blend of rich dark chocolate and fresh peppermint complementing the smokier notes and cutting through the richness of the wine.
But the surpassing high-low, sweet-serious wine pairing, per Vida, and my own copious tasting research is the O.G. Strawberry Pop Tart—no frosting, for the best flavor and textural experience—with Provence rosé.
Provence rosé boasts notes of strawberry, watermelon rind, rose petals and honeydew melon and can be paired with flavors that run the spectrum from savory (I also love rosé with pigs in a blanket, I must confess) to sweet, like fresh fruit or a fruit tart.
But Pop Tarts, with their just-this-side-of-painfully sweet strawberry filling trapped inside warm, buttery, just-a-touch-salty pastry crust, manage to complement the watermelon and strawberry notes of the rosé without overpowering it.
There may be a better way to end a party with grace than Pop Tarts and rosé, but if there is, I haven’t found it.