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Health & Fitness

Think pink and color coordinated

From the Sip Swirl Savor wine blog, read about the author's easy color-matching technique for food and wine pairing; featuring Mumm Brut Rosé, a sensational summer sparkler!

Last night, as I sat down to a simple dinner of roasted Atlantic King salmon and garlicky asparagus, I couldn't help but notice the color of the wine I poured for myself matched the pink hue of the salmon perfectly.

The wine was Mumm Napa Valley Brut Rosé non-vintage sparkling wine ($24 a bottle at the Mumm Napa website and I've seen it cheaper at Trader Joe's). With it's bright strawberry notes and dry finish, this pink bubbly was a tasty compliment to my meal.

And it got me thinking about how I go about pairing food with wine. Unless you are color-blind, my approach might work for you too.

I match the color of the food (or the main element of the dish) to the color of the wine, such as:

white fish like cod or halibut and yellowish foods like quiche, corn, and squash with a white wine pale yellow/straw in color like a Californian Sauvignon Blanc;

green foods like salads, avocado, and herb dips with a white wine that has grassy notes and might be so pale in color it has a greenish tinge like Vinho Verde or Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand;

white/grayish foods like oysters or fried fish served with tartar sauce go well with a minerally Chablis or sparkling brut;

cheesy pasta, roast chicken, or quinoa salad with a deep straw/golden hued wine like a medium-bodied Chardonnay;

pink foods like a summer salad of watermelon, tomato and feta and salmon, shrimp, or pork go nicely with rosé;

red meat, pasta with red wine or red meat sauce, pizza with tomato sauce go well with Bordeaux varietals, Zinfandel, or Italian red wines;

Pinot Noir is great with duck and seared ahi, but I drink it with almost everything.

As for spicy curries and multi-colored food like Mexican cuisine, skip wine and have a beer instead. 

Also, if you are cooking with wine or making a wine reduction sauce, use the same wine you intend to enjoy with your meal. I often make risotto; if I want to drink Cabernet Sauvignon with it, I'll simmer it in Cab. If I want to drink Pinot Noir with it, I'll use Pinot (and so on). If I had used a dry white wine (which is what most risotto recipes call for), the dish would not have paired well with red wine.

Although this color-matching method works for me, the best wine and food pairing advice is to drink whatever makes you happy. And as the singer Pink says, raise your glass!

Please visit www.sipswirlsavor.com for more wine reviews :)

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