Expensive Wine and Cheap Food

In the thread on wine with a grilled burger there's a comment in response to "Ridge Zin" that "it better be a damm good burger". This got me to thinking what was the most odd food wine pairing I've had based on price/quality difference. There's no question for me it was 1985 Guigal Cote Rotie La Turque with Boston Chicken. Fortunately for me I paid for the chicken and not the wine. I believe this was the first vintage of La Turque but I might be wrong. I have a friend who drinks luxury Champagne with take out pizza a couple of times per year.

In the thread on wine with a grilled burger there's a comment in response to "Ridge Zin" that "it better be a damm good burger". This got me to thinking what was the most odd food wine pairing I've had based on price/quality difference. There's no question for me it was 1985 Guigal Cote Rotie La Turque with Boston Chicken. Fortunately for me I paid for the chicken and not the wine. I believe this was the first vintage of La Turque but I might be wrong. I have a friend who drinks luxury Champagne with take out pizza a couple of times per year.

We cook at home all the time. I would say that most of the time our meals are quite gourmet, but since they are made at home, they don't cost much. So, we almost always are drinking wine that is way more expensive than the food.

For example, the other night we had an arugula and kale salad with a blood orange and EVOO dressing; grilled asparagus; chicken pieces cooked in some secret sauce my wife consures up; green rice, and all of that might have cost $3-4/ person. The wine... a $65 Cab.

So, most often we spend xtimes on wine what we pay for food...

So, most often we spend xtimes on wine what we pay for food...

I'm afraid my post was poorly worded. I was kinda thinking more along the lines of low frills food (take out or not) like fried chicken, hot dogs, pizza, burgers, etc. with really expensive wine. The food you described is way too nice!!!

So, most often we spend xtimes on wine what we pay for food...

I'm afraid my post was poorly worded. I was kinda thinking more along the lines of low frills food (take out or not) like fried chicken, hot dogs, pizza, burgers, etc. with really expensive wine. The food you described is way too nice!!!

On the other hand, Tom, it could be my reading that was the problem!!!

So, to be more in the spirit, we do hot dogs off the grill with jalapeños, chopped tomatoes, onion, mustard and mayonnaise with a nice bottle of Williams Selyem Pinot all the time. In fact, it's one of my wife's favorite every day pairings (grilled hot dogs and Pinot), especially if the Pinot has a bit of smoke to it too.

So, we can do low brow, low frills backyard BBQ with high-end Pinot with the best of them!!

Chips and Queso with Pierre Peters.

We typically err on the side of very simple foods with our better wines. We commonly have deli meats, fresh bread and simple cheeses with the good stuff. That way the wine can take center stage and not have to compete with the food.

We typically err on the side of very simple foods with our better wines. We commonly have deli meats, fresh bread and simple cheeses with the good stuff. That way the wine can take center stage and not have to compete with the food.

I agree with the concept, although bread and cheese seems to take things a bit too far. As much as I love good bread and good cheese, it does not really provide the atmosphere/ceremony that something cooked would bring to a very fine wine. Plus, cheese by itself doesn't exactly do wonders for the appreciation of very fine wine IMHO.

+1 re what James said..When the Queen Mother tells me what we are having for dinner, I scurry down to the cellar and come back with something that I think we will enjoy with the meal..I never factor what the wine might have cost into my decison, besides a number of the wines are 20-30 yrs old and I have no clue re what I paid for them way back when ..When some of my wino friends come over, we might have pizza with high end wines.. or we might have pizza with zin or Cal Syrah..only constants are the pizza, good friends and a lot of laughs..At my age, I would rather pamper myself, my wife, daughters and friends than sweat the small stuff..