At a recent wine tasting in Napa, Calif., my hosts made a tragic mistake: They served a big zinfandel with warm apple pie for dessert. The sweet pie stripped the fruit flavors from the wine, leaving us with mouthfuls of what tasted like tannic water.
“What is this?” some of the guests asked.
Others winced, unwilling to offend our hosts by speaking up.
Matching food with wine is an art, of course. And while not everyone can agree on good art — for example, is it best to pair a medium-rare filet with a merlot or pinot noir? — everyone can agree on what is bad art.
Well, almost everyone. When I travel, I occasionally stumble upon a pairing that’s all wrong, and so terribly misguided that I want to post a sign out front: “Warning! Bad wine pairings!”
Airlines are the best — and worst — examples of effective wine pairing. I normally fly in economy class, where salty peanuts are served as snacks. Never try to combine peanuts with any kind of wine. The nutty flavor makes the wine taste bitter. Stick with beer or a cocktail instead.
A few months ago I flew from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile, on American Airlines. It was one of the few times I was upgraded to business class. I ordered the chicken Madeira with vegetables, and was offered a choice of French Champagne, chablis or Bordeaux. I don’t normally drink on the plane, but I made an exception for this trip. I tried all of the wines, and they were fabulous and all went well with one or more parts of the meal.
My business trips often lead to a discovery for pairing a wine with an unusual food I would never otherwise try. Several years ago, I was having lunch at a small restaurant in Sacramento with some grape growers. We ordered a Lytton Springs Zinfandel from Sonoma County’s Dry Creek region. . The soup of the day was curry.
Strangely enough, the pairing worked deliciously. The jammy, sweet flavors of the zin complemented the spicy broth. It worked so well that I’ve used similar pairings in our restaurants, matching lower-tannin red wines with spicy ahi and barbecued shrimp appetizers.
The oddest pairing that’s ever worked for me happened by accident, on a trip from Los Angeles to New York a few years ago. I arrived at my destination three hours late, having subsisted on bags of peanuts for most of the day. As soon as I shut my hotel door, I opened the room service menu and scanned it for anything edible.
Pizza? No. Mozzarella sticks? Uh-uh. Then my eyes settled on the plate of crispy French fries. Yes. Since it wasn’t really a balanced meal, I overcompensated and asked for a glass of Champagne with it.
Despite the polarity between French fries and French bubbly, all it took was a bite and a sip to convince me I’d found a perfect pairing. The acidity and the bubbles in Champagne refreshed the palate beautifully between every bite of the salty fried food.
Since that revelation, I have a new rule. I’ll try a glass of wine with anything — at least once.
Marian Jansen op de Haar is director of wine for Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse restaurants.
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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