Does anyone here not care about food?

Good food and good wine go together. This is an established fact. It makes sense that people who enjoy good wine tend to enjoy good food, and in my experiences this seems to be the case with the vast majority of wine lovers. People who take an active interest in wine tend to prepare better meals on a regular basis - and I define "better" as using high quality ingredients, often local, and often fresh.

However, I'm wondering if there are some people who are willing to admit in public that they love wine, but they don't really care about food. I'm sure that some wine lovers may admit that they aren't a total foodie, but I doubt there's many who would actually say that they just don't give a rat's behind about their food choices.

I'm asking because I was just thinking about someone I know who is a wine enthusiast, but his diet is absolutely terrible. While he can appreciate a great meal, he only ever eats and/or prepares good meals if he's cooking/dining to impress someone. The rest of the time, he lives off fast food. He boasts about how he eats buckets upon buckets of KFC every week. I know laziness probably factors into this a lot, but I get the impression that he actually doesn't care about food.

So, anyone else out there feel the same way? Or, perhaps more tellingly, which would you rather go without - good food or good wine?

[Robin Garr]

Good food and good wine go together. ... which would you rather go without - good food or good wine?

Melissa, I'm with you. I can't imagine wine without food. I can imagine food without wine, but I like wine very much with dinner. With breakfast, not so much.

I've found an interesting thing over the years of wine writing and wine communities, though: It's my best estimate that only about one-fourth to one-fifth of wine geeks are also food geeks. This isn't quite the same thing, as I'm sure most of the other 75 to 80 percent LIKE food. But I've consistently found that a passion and great interest for wine in detail transfers over to the world of food only in a minority of cases.

Good food and good wine go together. ... which would you rather go without - good food or good wine?

Melissa, I'm with you. I can't imagine wine without food. I can imagine food without wine, but I like wine very much with dinner. With breakfast, not so much.

I've found an interesting thing over the years of wine writing and wine communities, though: It's my best estimate that only about one-fourth to one-fifth of wine geeks are also food geeks. This isn't quite the same thing, as I'm sure most of the other 75 to 80 percent LIKE food. But I've consistently found that a passion and great interest for wine in detail transfers over to the world of food only in a minority of cases.

Hi Robin,
In my case, good wine inspired me to do more cooking and try to find dishes that were the best matches with my wines. I have been seeking out recipes and cookbooks (I have purchased two) that specifically match food to wine and give you the types of matches that really sing together. In fact, at the latest MoCool I fixed one of my favorite wine-food combos at Chez Noland, pistachio encrusted whitefish with a tasty Vouvray. I actually got some compliments on this match (not always the case with my brothers). So the love of wine has increased my interest in food.

Food takes precedence for me in that my decision what wine to bring/drink depends on what I feel like eating at any given time.

That said, my favorite wine-related saying is the Spanish: Comer sin vino es miseria y desatino.

Best,

N

It is hard for me to imagine someone, who cares about the subtlety and beauty of wine, not caring about the same in food. I consider wine as an integral part of a good main meal.

My experience with wine geeks differs from Robin's, although maybe it's a matter of semantics. Maybe most aren't food geeks as such. However, in my most serious wine group (SOBER), every single person is particular about both restaurants and the ingredients in their kitchen. In my loose circle of Bordeaux-centric friends, all are pretty serious about what they eat (Matt, Ramon, Jacques etc post here sometimes, I think it's clear they are foodies as well as winegeeks). I guess in my local wine group there are 3 people who aren't very food centric, but they aren't wine geeks either- for them our group is more "a night out with the boys" (and that's ok), but even they still appreciate good food, pass around restaurant tips, etc.

...The rest of the time, he lives off fast food. He boasts about how he eats buckets upon buckets of KFC every week..

While we all have our moments of excesses, it would all depend upon the wine he has with KFC! In my limted experience, I have generally found wine geeks to be gourmets and seldom gourmands.

It would be a rare occasion to have wine without food. Even at a geek gatherings I nibble while I drink. It is also a rare occasion when I feel I have to have a certain wine, and then decide what to eat with it. Mostly food comes first.

I swing both ways. Sometimes I have a wine I want to drink and I match a food to it, sometimes I have a particular food I want to prepare and think about a wine that will work well with it.

Sometimes, I don't include food at all in the mix. Some Rieslings, and (for me) all Ports are wines for contemplation, without food.

But I am definitely one of the people that immediately thinks of wine together with food. Heck, wine IS food.

I might be in the minority on this but I frequently enjoy and/or prefer a glass or two of wine sans food. Sure I very much enjoy wine with food and there are certainly wines that seems to demand a crust of bread or slab of beast, but I really like two way players; that is wine that works well with or without edibles.

As far as caring about the food, I very much do though circumstances being what they are what with the getting home from work, picking the kids up, doing the chores, figuring out that something didn't get done earlier that should have done, I'm frequently tucking into some noodle casserole of dubious construction and then slurping on vin ordinaire whilst sitting down for the one hour I have before bedtime. Sure of a weekend I might get jiggy with the oyster mushrooms, skirt steak and Vin Santo sauce, but even that is fraught with peril from the crumbcrunchers underfoot or the weekend work events.

It's been my experience over many years that people who know wine are invariably more knowledgeable about food. I have over the years known people who really appreciate good food and are fussy but are not involved with wine to the same degree.
In my family my wife does the cooking except for some barbequeing, so food comes first and I choose the wine.

I might be in the minority on this but I frequently enjoy and/or prefer a glass or two of wine sans food..

I definitely enjoy wine without food. I usually can't keep eating long enough to keep up with all the wine I want to drink!

I might be in the minority on this but I frequently enjoy and/or prefer a glass or two of wine sans food..

I definitely enjoy wine without food. I usually can't keep eating long enough to keep up with all the wine I want to drink!

I enjoy sip and spit tastings without food, although many structured red wines don't show at their best in these circumstances. When I drink wine as a starter, I like a nibble, preferably delicious like some tapas.

I might be in the minority on this but I frequently enjoy and/or prefer a glass or two of wine sans food.

Me too. It's not that I don't care about food or food pairings but I find that I often just want a glass of a good wine. Of course, I'm also one of the few here who say that I like the fact that after a hard day a glass or two of wine relaxes me.. i.e. the alcohol content is not such a bad thing to me.

Glenn

I love food and wine together, but when it comes to fine wine I prefer simple foods. Deli meat, cheese, bread always works well with excellent wine.