{"id":12195,"date":"2013-08-27T07:20:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T11:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/?p=12195"},"modified":"2013-08-27T07:20:26","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T11:20:26","slug":"3-insider-wine-food-pairing-tips-most-underrated-grape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/3-insider-wine-food-pairing-tips-most-underrated-grape\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Insider Wine + Food Pairing Tips, Most Underrated Grape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Wordsmith, wine pro and lifelong highland dancer, Natalie MacLean sat down with Grape Magazine, talking whisky, winter, the world\u2019s greatest wines and the secrets to top-shelf imbibing without breaking the bank.<\/p>\n

Your Writing Process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a messy writer\u2014if I were a painter, I\u2019d paint a seagull in one corner, then a clump of clover in another corner. I\u2019d splash on the page every impression I have, then edit, edit, edit.<\/p>\n

Best Wine & Food?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best pairing<\/strong><\/a> is between you and a wine you like. But as far as food pairings go, the fun is in experimenting, choosing whether to complement or to contrast. A robust steak complements a full-bodied, robust wine; a rich, creamy dish becomes even more luxurious when contrasted with the acidity of a Sauvignon Blanc.<\/p>\n

Another Way to Pair?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love pairing wine with books<\/strong><\/a>\u2014for instance, The Grapes of Wrath with a California Zinfandel, or Dan Brown\u2019s The Da Vinci Code with an Italian Chianti.<\/p>\n

A Grape on the Rise?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Torront\u00e9s from Argentina. It\u2019s a lovely, floral white that many wine lovers haven\u2019t yet discovered.<\/p>\n

Well-Spent Youth?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I grew up in a Scottish family, with beer and whiskey on the table and highland dancing every summer, so wine didn\u2019t come to me early in life. But one night during grad school, I tasted a Brunello. I knew I loved it, but I didn\u2019t have the words to describe it. So I took one wine course\u2014then another and another\u2014to find the right words.<\/p>\n

Best Wine Ever?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Domaine de la Roman\u00e9e Conti, Burgundy Pinot Noir is one of my favorite grapes, so visiting this premier Burgundy estate, standing among the vines and in the cobwebbed cellars with the winemaker, was unbelievable. I was so nervous about dropping anything!<\/p>\n

Nose for a Bargain?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve experienced some equally special moments with far less expensive wines. My second book<\/strong><\/a> is about finding the best price-to-quality ratio in wine. In general, my principal is to \u201cgo south\u201d: from Bordeaux to Languedoc, from Napa to Santa Cruz, from Brunello to Sicily.<\/p>\n

When the weather is frightful?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Bordeaux with fork-tender filet mignon.<\/p>\n

Strangest pairing<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Champagne and potato chips: sublime!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wordsmith, wine pro and lifelong highland dancer, Natalie MacLean sat down with Grape Magazine, talking whisky, winter, the world\u2019s greatest wines and the secrets to top-shelf imbibing without breaking the bank. Your Writing Process? I\u2019m a messy writer\u2014if I were a painter, I\u2019d paint a seagull in one corner, then a clump of clover in another corner. I\u2019d splash on the page every impression I have, then edit, edit, edit. Best Wine & Food? The best pairing is between you and a wine you like. But as far as food pairings go, the fun is in experimenting, choosing whether to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,29,3,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-wine-pairing","category-taste-wine","category-wine-articles","category-wine-writing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12195"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15854,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12195\/revisions\/15854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}