How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner?

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How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 7:55:11 AM

BobInNH

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I'm guessing that the average size of inventory is in the 1500 - 2000 bottle range. I only have 150 and have to put in a lot of thought as to what to drink tonight for dinner. I can't imagine how much thought it takes if I had ten times that amount.

So, do you do it?

Post #: 1

RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 7:58:57 AM

cigar52

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From: California... now Sarasota, FL
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Practice and keep notes.

Also a great reference is a great book by Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page entitled "What to drink with what you eat".... it also covers what to eat with what you drink.

It is an adventure... by the way we are in the neighborhood of 1700 bottle wine cellar.

(in reply to BobInNH)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 8:28:29 AM

Jenise

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Actually, it works the other way around. The more wine you have, the more bottles are 'in the zone' both in age and suitability. Picking among many that will work well and maybe even provide some fireworks isn't hard work!

(in reply to cigar52)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 8:41:40 AM

fingers

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More like a true heathen, I tend to pick the wine first and then find food to match.

(in reply to BobInNH)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 8:46:43 AM

KPB

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From: Ithaca, New York
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Variety is key. I vary wine styles often to avoid getting bored.

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 9:11:09 AM

Robert Pavlovich

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From: West Los Angeles
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Well that’s a fun question and I think you about have me pegged on average cellar size.

I have about 95% of my wine in offsite lockers. Every once in a while I’ll pick though the lockers and find a case or two of wines I feel are about ready to drink or that I just want to check in on, and I’ll bring those home.

Also since I’m in to Burgundy, new arrivals are fair game as well. Most Burgs are open on release, (about 6-18 months) after they’ve been bottled. I like to drink one and assess all kinds of things, whether I want to buy more, how long to cellar it, what food to have it with, and so on.

_____________________________

"Blending muddles the message"

-The Burgundian Monks

(in reply to KPB)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 10:39:03 AM

Ibetian

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We drink the wines we like with the food we like.

Granted some pairings are jarring, so we don’t drink CA cabs with a light fish.

But we will generally have white or Champagne as an aperitif, and drink red with dinner.

Last night we had a glass of Chablis to start. With dinner (blackened swordfish, watermelon and feta, and a white bean salad) we had a 2009 Chambolle-Musigny premier cru. Not a pairing for everyone, but we enjoyed dinner a lot.

_____________________________

“I was a glutton at the banquet and spilt the finest wine,” Mick Jagger, Wandering Spirit

(in reply to Robert Pavlovich)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 3:13:01 PM

Echinosum

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From: Buckinghamshire, UK
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The most common consideration I have is, what bottles are easily to hand? Whilst I have 1300-1400 total inventory, the capacity of the storage at my house is only a little over 350. But only about only about 50 bottles are easily to hand, and perhaps another 100 I can get to in a few minutes. I do of course select out what bottles to put in the accessible area from time to time as they get used up, but typically I only put at most 2 bottles of any given label easily to hand, and they might have been already drunk, meaning additional ones are hard to get to. The ones at the back, especially the ones at the bottom at the back, are a major operation to get to.

So the most common consideration is, what's the choice of bottles immediately to hand? Or, can I be bothered going into the slightly harder to access areas to try and look for one. Because they get moved around all the time, I rely on an increasingly fallible memory to know where I put them.

Then the next issue is, what is going to make sense over the next 3 or 4 days meals, because that's how long it takes me to drink a bottle, as my wife rarely partakes. Sometimes that goes wrong when I have an idea for what I'm eating today or tomorrow, and I discover my wife had different ideas. And, of course, there is a distinction between every day wines and special wines. Occasionally I treat myself to a special wine on an ordinary day, especially if I think it is one potential guests might not appreciate. But mostly I stick to the dichotomy. Mostly the special occasion wines are less easily accessible.

This weekend I had a problem. I was having fresh tuna burgers with ginger and chilli one day and pizza the next. That was just insoluble, and now I have two bottles of wine open. Fortunately I have time to drink them both before I go away on Thursday.

_____________________________

A discriminating palate can be a curse.

(in reply to Ibetian)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 5:28:37 PM

ericindc

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I have a very wide and large cellar for exactly that reason. So I have really good choices no matter what I make.

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-Eric
Just waiting for my Grand Cru to age.

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 8:53:21 PM

garetjax_kison

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From: Campbell, CA (via TriCities WA)
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For me, the first decision I need to make is "I am making X, what would pair well with it" or conversely " I want to drink X tonight, what should I make that will pair well with it". Unlike some of the folks on this thread, my wine is nearly all accessible with five minutes (stored at home). I also find that cellar contents/percentages have changed over time as preferred wine varietals/styles change and also as preferred food have changed. In my case, as I have been going to AK "freezer" fishing every summer for past 10 years primarily for salmon (with additional rockfish/cod/halibut), the percentage of wines that pair well with my fish recipes have increased.

(in reply to ericindc)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 8:55:26 PM

Eduardo787

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I love to be spontaneus and I believe that for my personality is what goes better. My friends are the same way too. Yesterday one of the Marsupials invited us to his house for a ribeye and a NY steak. Just 4 of us. When we arrived he said to us " Lets go to the cellar and find something nice". He found a 1996 Chateau Angelus and said " lets open this !"

We had an AMAZING dinner. It was planned a few hours beofre, the wine right on the spot, and everything was a success. Of course this does not work for many as most are not this way. For me the best moments are like that, on the spot. Life is extremely complicated and now I am bringing my hobby to the equation ??? No way Eduardo !

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I can´t be happier than drinkling wine with my friends

(in reply to BobInNH)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/21/2024 10:21:39 PM

oskiwawa

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From: Austin TX
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With a decent size cellar I find that we choose the food first and then match the wine. Also put into the mix that we will usually have a bottle before dinner and that tends to be a white or a champagne.
No need to over think. It just works.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Eduardo787

I love to be spontaneus and I believe that for my personality is what goes better. My friends are the same way too. Yesterday one of the Marsupials invited us to his house for a ribeye and a NY steak. Just 4 of us. When we arrived he said to us " Lets go to the cellar and find something nice". He found a 1996 Chateau Angelus and said " lets open this !"

We had an AMAZING dinner. It was planned a few hours beofre, the wine right on the spot, and everything was a success. Of course this does not work for many as most are not this way. For me the best moments are like that, on the spot. Life is extremely complicated and now I am bringing my hobby to the equation ??? No way Eduardo !

(in reply to Eduardo787)

Post #: 12

RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 4:09:57 AM

khmark7

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From: Chicago suburbs
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Eduardo787

I love to be spontaneus and I believe that for my personality is what goes better. My friends are the same way too. Yesterday one of the Marsupials invited us to his house for a ribeye and a NY steak. Just 4 of us. When we arrived he said to us " Lets go to the cellar and find something nice". He found a 1996 Chateau Angelus and said " lets open this !"

We had an AMAZING dinner. It was planned a few hours beofre, the wine right on the spot, and everything was a success. Of course this does not work for many as most are not this way. For me the best moments are like that, on the spot. Life is extremely complicated and now I am bringing my hobby to the equation ??? No way Eduardo !

Your friends have good taste!

I'm usually just trying to drink stuff to make room and clean up the cellar.

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(in reply to Eduardo787)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 5:20:54 AM

KPB

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From: Ithaca, New York
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Good point, @khmark7! I don’t drink my best wines daily, although I do drink them often (“wine is for drinking”). On average I pick something mature that needs to be drunk up, or a wine I should drink or dump — one I have started to doubt my rationale for purchasing. I do get some nice surprises, although sometimes a bottle gets emptied after a single glass. But among a set of choices that fit the dinner and my mood, I pick to mix up varietals and styles…

I’m also not obsessed about the white with seafood, red with meat thing. Of course mostly we have chicken, not red meat, and it works with both. But even a roast bronzini with preserved lemons and garlic can be paired with a lighter, crisper style of red (this said, that would pair really well with a Chave blanc…. )

One has to let the mood shape the choice!

< Message edited by KPB -- 4/22/2024 8:30:40 AM >

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to khmark7)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 7:31:09 AM

BobInNH

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quote:

With a decent size cellar I find that we choose the food first and then match the wine.

I don't think I asked the question correctly. Given the above, with 1500 bottles in inventory, you likely have a dozen that would be a good fit. Of that dozen, how do you choose?

(in reply to KPB)

Post #: 15

RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 8:31:54 AM

KPB

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To me, that really is very much a question of what tempts you! As you get to know your wines better and better you can visualize them, and sort of visualize the pairing. Like spices: how do you know what spice to use to improve the flavor of a soup?

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Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to BobInNH)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 9:31:37 AM

Robert Pavlovich

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From: West Los Angeles
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BobInNH

quote:

With a decent size cellar I find that we choose the food first and then match the wine.

I don't think I asked the question correctly. Given the above, with 1500 bottles in inventory, you likely have a dozen that would be a good fit. Of that dozen, how do you choose?

Obviously the food and the company matter a lot when zeroing in. It’s a feel thing, what wines feel right. To your point there are often many correct or good choices, at that point it’s kind of like how you decide what shirt to put on when you have several good options.

_____________________________

"Blending muddles the message"

-The Burgundian Monks

(in reply to BobInNH)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 11:45:43 AM

Jenise

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From: The Pacific Northest Westest
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BobInNH

I don't think I asked the question correctly. Given the above, with 1500 bottles in inventory, you likely have a dozen that would be a good fit. Of that dozen, how do you choose?

Not something to sweat over. Different days might be different choices for myriad reasons. There's no one right way--it's all good.

(in reply to BobInNH)

Post #: 18

RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 11:54:43 AM

daviladc

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From: Myrtle Beach SC
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BobInNH

quote:

With a decent size cellar I find that we choose the food first and then match the wine.

I don't think I asked the question correctly. Given the above, with 1500 bottles in inventory, you likely have a dozen that would be a good fit. Of that dozen, how do you choose?

Once dinner is decided...

The only real reasons we have to NOT pick something, it is the type of company that we will spen time with for dinner. If it is my father, I'll grab something mediocre because he drinks beer and his wife drinks whatever we put out. If it is my chef friend or just me and my wife, we'll open anything we want.

Of all the reasons we choose a bottle, none of them are "cost". If we bought a bottle it is because we like it and expect to drink it. We do not have "cellar defenders" here.

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Wine is not furniture. Drink it!

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 4/22/2024 5:59:51 PM

KPB

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Well, I don’t agree entirely with “it’s all good.” Consider red wines. Some are lighter with crunchy red fruit, tart acidity, grippy. Some are sweetly ripe from the get go, lush, soft, blue /black fruits. Some are ripe more on the back palate. And this goes on…

And they match better or worse as a result. Leg of lamb with garlic and herbes de province? You want one of those lush, riper wines. Pasta? Aim for a midweight red. Cheese? Those tart, crunchy red fruited wines can work remarkably well, while the lush sweet stuff seems clumsy and flabby. And this story, also, goes on and on.

So I need to understand my wines to pair them with food or company.

_____________________________

Ken Birman
The Professor of Brettology

(in reply to daviladc)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 5/2/2024 12:51:09 PM

Wine Grove

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Moreso than the food, the wines I choose to drink are usually based on the weather/climate outside, and what sounds good to my palate that day. If it's warmer I'm more likely drinking chardonnay or pinot... if it's mild/cool, maybe its a hearty grenache or richer style pinot, if it's cold bring out the cabs and heavier, richer wines. Of course there are always exceptions to the rules.

(in reply to BobInNH)

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RE: How do you choose your wine for tonight's dinner? - 5/8/2024 12:52:54 PM

wdcwineguys

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Great question and some great replies in this thread.

Our cellar sits right around 900 bottles. There are a few things we take into account:

1. Some of our bottles are in for the long haul, so we avoid those that we have an aging target in mind.
2. I try to buy in (3)’s so we can try a wine when it’s younger.
3. What’s my mood? Do I want a big wine or something more easy drinking. Do I want to drink it pre dinner or with the meal? Is it going to be a two bottle night? We’ll often start with a cocktail, such as a G&T and then hop into a bottle.
4. If you want the bottle with dinner will it mesh well. Ie not clash or overpower. We keep a diverse mix of wines so we can go in different directions based on our mood and menu. You don’t have to follow white wine must go with fish. Is it a wine that I’m going to enjoy one glass with dinner and then finish after the meal?
5. Ignore the price of the bottle. This may sound ridiculous, but I’ll open a $300/bottle on a Tuesday if that’s what I’m in the mood for and that wine is ready to drink. Enjoy your selection and don’t be distracted by what the wine costs. There are quite a few enjoyable $20 bottles as well (cough cough Rioja)

Finally, if you’re not hosting guests, drink what you like. If you are hosting, are they wine drinkers? If not, they probably won’t appreciate a nice bottle.

< Message edited by wdcwineguys -- 5/8/2024 12:54:52 PM >

(in reply to Wine Grove)

Post #: 22