I swear, he knows we joke about this non-stop.

[BobH]

@Berry Crawford

I think I’m with Parker on this one. Eat what you want and drink what you want. Some pairings are particularly inspired but with the exception of spicy food I rarely find food and wine clashes.

Agree here as well. Good food and good wine are always nice to enjoy togethor.

[Ian_Dorin]

Some great responses.
BTW, this is more of a running joke, since the frequency of fish and CDP Mag with Parker is almost bi-weekly on the HG. It’s actually the one section of Parker’s site I find most helpful, quite the same way I find this site so helpful. They taste wines in a group setting, and quite often older wines, that so rarely get re-rated. Yes, I think there is a grain of salt that needs to be taken (as does any healthy meal of MASS consumption of wine), but find the notes helpful (and not so much the scores, cough 2003 Da Capo cough, cough).

Thanks for the mid-day laugh.

[Marcu_Stanley]

You can’t blame Parker – once you’ve found the greatest vintage in any viticultural region ever in the history of mankind, why drink anything else?

[Doug_Lee]

Keith,

Way beyond the call of duty. I could not stop laughing. Thanks for this.

Cheers,
Doug

[R_del_Rosario]

Laughing so hard on Jeff’s and Keith’s posts, I’m 

[Michae1_P0wers]

@Peter Muto

@Keith Levenberg

Wouldn’t it be great if Parker were to start one of those wine advice columns were people write in asking what to drink with x, y, or z - he could respond with, “How about a magnum of 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape?” every single time. It would be great and each one would be funnier than the last one.

The Onion had ‘advice columns’ exactly like that…often hilarious.

The Navy Seal bit is absolute classic, love it.

Also, I think it is okay to take issue with someone who frequently advocates large scaled wine with delicate foods to his incredibly numerous readership, many of whom will take such a suggestion seriously, and few of whom are likely to enjoy it, however jacked up his own palate may be.

I’ll respect that those of you who say “eat whatever with whatever wine” come by this foible honestly, but to me this is a recipe for money and opportunity wasted on wine and on food. I can think of few things worse to consume with most foods than a large scaled, highly alcoholic wine. Again, if that’s what you like, good for you, but to suggest it to what I can only assume is a mostly unknowledgeable readership seems like a cruel joke.

[Ken_V]

Keith, those are hilarious! Though the last one doesn’t mention 2007 Chateauneuf.

[Lee_Short]

@Berry Crawford

I think I’m with Parker on this one. Eat what you want and drink what you want. Some pairings are particularly inspired but with the exception of spicy food I rarely find food and wine clashes.

I find this sentiment at odds with my experience. I think there’s a whole lot of terrible pairings, most often where either the food or the wine clobbers the other. Quite often, a wine that was only OK will really turn it on when I change courses. It may not have been clashing with the previous course, but maybe it was overshadowed by the rich sauce. So it’s not usually a case of going blech ==> yum, more like ok ==> yum. Or the reverse.

For any wine I like, I have no problem finding food that I like that matches it. So that’s what I do.

[Larry_P]

Clearly it’s time for a Sushi & '07 C9 offline. Who’s in?

[John_Morris]

@Lee Short

@Berry Crawford

I think I’m with Parker on this one. Eat what you want and drink what you want. Some pairings are particularly inspired but with the exception of spicy food I rarely find food and wine clashes.

I find this sentiment at odds with my experience. I think there’s a whole lot of terrible pairings, most often where either the food or the wine clobbers the other. Quite often, a wine that was only OK will really turn it on when I change courses. It may not have been clashing with the previous course, but maybe it was overshadowed by the rich sauce. So it’s not usually a case of going blech ==> yum, more like ok ==> yum. Or the reverse.

+1

Parker’s seeming obliviousness to food and wine matches speaks volumes about his palate. Not sensitively tuned, shall we say.

[jcoley3]

My two cents - I like to jazz around with food and wine. I have found that some very counter-intuitive wines will harmonize with food - a Crozes-Hermitage with raw farm-fresh arugula comes to mind. I also remember a vivid White Burg/rack of lamb partnership.

All those random moments aside, pairings that flaunt basic rules are more often disastrous than pleasant.

For me food and wine moments break down into these categories:

1. They improve each other. This is, obviously, the best thing that can happen.
2. They do not impact each other markedly one way or the other - I’m reminded of a fish stew I first tried with a White Burg - it was okay (though the anise-flavored dish later really hummed with a high-acid Sangiovese that was the former category). The stew tasted like stew. The wine like wine. They never intersected in any meaningful way, just ran along on parallel tracks. This category is the primary category of food and wine pairs, IMHO. Most people hope wine doesn’t screw up their food, and vice versa. Most basic food/wine rules produce this result.
3. One gets royally f----d-up by the other. Traditionally, the wine kills the food.

Think 07 CdP mags paired with channel-fresh Dover Sole or sushi.

[Rick_Gregory]

Jim,

I think that’s a very good summary of the way wine and food interacts. I think there’s a 1.5 (the pairing is loosely harmonious, but not an amazing synergy) and a 2.5 (one makes the other worse but not disastrously). Hey, I once paired a FX Pichler Riesling with some venison. Worked fine - was a good, though offbeat, example of your second category.

[Cris_Whetstone]

@Rick Gregory

Jim,

I think that’s a very good summary of the way wine and food interacts. I think there’s a 1.5 (the pairing is loosely harmonious, but not an amazing synergy) and a 2.5 (one makes the other worse but not disastrously). Hey, I once paired a FC Pichler Riesling with some venison. Worked fine - was a good, though offbeat, example of your second category.

I was going to add something like Rick did. I often have nights where I have a nice food wine and a dinner that goes reasonably well with it without either really improving the other. That is usually a big win for me.

[Lee_Short]

@jcoley3

I also remember a vivid White Burg/rack of lamb partnership.

I had Steak Diane with the 96 Jadot Corton-Charlemagne soon after release. Fabulous.

[jcoley3]

@Rick Gregory

Jim,

I think that’s a very good summary of the way wine and food interacts. I think there’s a 1.5 (the pairing is loosely harmonious, but not an amazing synergy) and a 2.5 (one makes the other worse but not disastrously). Hey, I once paired a FX Pichler Riesling with some venison. Worked fine - was a good, though offbeat, example of your second category.

Rick,

I’m with you on those. There are so many variables in foods and wines that there are many gray shades and three categories makes for good basics will but will be reductive for people who are interested in the nuances of pairing.

Pichler and deer! What was the prep? That sounds intriguing.

[jcoley3]

@Lee Short

@jcoley3

I also remember a vivid White Burg/rack of lamb partnership.

I had Steak Diane with the 96 Jadot Corton-Charlemagne soon after release. Fabulous.

Though Prem-Ox soured me on White Burg for a while, I really think there may be no more versatile food wine (category one or one point five) than good White Burg. I have had more unexpected and extraordinary pairings across the food style spectrum with Chablis and the Cote de Beaune than anhy other part of the wine world, red or white…

[JBierly]

I actually had a 2007 CDP with fish last night. A Chateau de la Gardine. Throwing a bit of sediment and certainly fruit driven it didn’t have any overt sense of alcohol and actually was quite tasty with the meal. Went fairly well with the duck to follow. Not as elegant as the 2004 Clos des Papes that I had the night before but not obtrusive.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

What is the point of drinking a mag. so young? Is anyone here willing to say that wine from a mag this young tastes any different, or better, than the same wine from a 750?

[Jim_Swayze]

More pleasure. Which is why I don’t understand why he doesn’t just break down and do Everclear shots and cinnamon rolls.

[Larry_P]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

What is the point of drinking a mag. so young? Is anyone here willing to say that wine from a mag this young tastes any different, or better, than the same wine from a 750?

I think it’s just fewer bottles to carry to the restaurant