What fruit encapsulates summer better than a watermelon? OK, I hear you muttering about peaches, nectarines, berries and that forgotten fruit–the tomato. But today’s challenge is watermelon! Is it an impossible food-wine pairing?
Have your say in the comments! And do let us know if you’re pairing that $6,100 black watermelon just sold in Japan or a plain old regular one instead.
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On August 8th, 2008 at 7:31 am ,David McDuff wrote:
Watermelon on its own? I’m not sure there’d be much point in pairing wine with something so juicy, fun and fleetingly consumed. Then again, a good, fruit forward rosé from Provence goes just about perfectly with the salad of watermelon, tomatoes, mint and feta I’ve been known to prepare. So it would probably work out just fine with a solo slice of melon.
On August 8th, 2008 at 9:01 am ,Stacy Nelson wrote:
The comment about the impossibly expensive watermelon in Japan got me to thinking… I would actually pair watermelon with an unfiltered Sake, not exactly wine but it’s got similar flavor characteristics.
On August 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am ,david lowing wrote:
i have never paried watermelon with wine and probably never will. but my first thought was something like a Vinho Verde Рmore specifically a Ros̩ Vinho Verde if you can find it.
watermelon and wine is a risky proposition, so what better than to take a risky guess.
On August 8th, 2008 at 11:02 am ,Beau Rapier wrote:
I like to put a little salt on my watermelon. So a wine w/ a bit of salinity would be my choice. Maybe a Muscadet, but even better would Txacoli. Rose Txacoli often has hints of watermelon, but alas I tend to like the white versions better.
On August 8th, 2008 at 12:39 pm ,Arthur wrote:
Rose? torrontes? malvasia bianca? gewurztraminer, sweeter rieslings and rose cava, rose champagne (cremant).
On August 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm ,Weston wrote:
Rose? its the same colour at least hah
On August 8th, 2008 at 3:13 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Stacy, I actually really like the idea of sake!
David, maybe watermelon sorbet then?
How about a moscato d’asti?
On August 9th, 2008 at 11:45 am ,Greg wrote:
If I had to pair watermelon with a wine I would look for a light pink sparkling wine. I think the bubbles would be just the thing with the texture of the melon.
On August 9th, 2008 at 12:06 pm ,Anthony wrote:
When it comes to watermelon I would suggest wines from Domaine Zind-Humbrecht from Alsace, France. Which one exactly is hard to say. They have a range from super-dry to super-honey-sweet so the best thing would be: 6 – 10 poeple, enough watermelon and half-a-dozend diffent Zind-Humbrecht wines from dry to sweet. An’ let’s find out which one suits best!
But I must say, Moscato d’Asti is also a good idea.
On August 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am ,Tish wrote:
What, doesn’t anyone like to cut a hole in the melon and fill the sucker with vodka anymore? Just askin’…
On August 11th, 2008 at 2:44 am ,caroline wrote:
I could imagine a mosel riesling with maybe 7.5 or 8% alcohol…
On August 11th, 2008 at 1:48 pm ,bill wrote:
I’m not sure I would attempt the pairing either. But Innocent Bystander out of Australia has a sparkling pink moscato that I’m sure would do the trick.
But since you mentioned watermelon, I always think of Petey Greene, How to Eat a Watermelon. I’m not sure he would recommend the pairing.
On August 11th, 2008 at 10:50 pm ,BWerts wrote:
Tish- my college roommates and I still enjoy watermelon and vodka on a hot summer day- so don’t worry, you’re not alone.
However, I made them try this and it is exceptional: Small cube of watermelon with a scoop out of the middle, topped with a slice of Parmesan Reggiano and drizzled in delicious balsamic vinegar. Perfect combination of sweet, salty an savory. We enjoyed it a pinot noir – very good. Fresh summer appetizer.
On August 12th, 2008 at 12:07 pm ,Count Mourvedre wrote:
Watermelon?
Odd that someone would want to drink wine with it, but I think a demi-sec champagne or a Kabinett Riesling would match up nicely. If you have the prerequsite fried yard bird as an accompaniment, then I would go for a brut rose Champagne.
The Count has spoken!
On August 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm ,Martini wrote:
I agree, a nice 2007 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Kabinett (St. Urbans-Hof, J.J. Prum, yadda yadda) or some beautiful BUGEY CERDON! The Bubbly of Kings!
On August 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am ,Dylan wrote:
Bwerts, I agree the watermelon vodka trick is good. I’ll definitely have to try that version you mentioned with the Balsamic though!
I work over at Tin Cross Vineyards where we have some great apricots growing on the land. I have done a sort of breakfast for dinner before: I was doing a reduction with the apricots, sugar, butter and a Sauvignon Blanc, and then added that as fruit filling to crepes. The rest of the wine was used for drinking along side the dish. Great stuff.
I wonder about raw watermelon though, I’ll give test it out since I just bought a big, ripe one. But, it’s hard to say what wine would work well, perhaps a Riesling?
On August 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pm ,Joseph wrote:
I’d make watermelon ice cubes and put them in some sparkling wine (cava or champagne would work too). See here for the recipe: http://www.gastronomersguide.com/2008/08/watermelon-and-mint-ice-cubes.html
On August 19th, 2008 at 9:20 am ,stonkhol wrote:
Since watermelons have been found to have viagra like qualities without the side effect and red wines have resveratrol, I’ll go with that
On August 20th, 2008 at 1:08 am ,T Munj wrote:
I paired watermelon and tomato salad (as described above) with Adelsheim Rose of Pinot Noir. Outstanding!
On August 25th, 2008 at 4:11 pm ,Denise wrote:
Even though I am a wino at heart … LOL … watermelon and vodka are like peanut butter and jelly!
I surprised my guests the other night with watermelon/vodka sorbet … of course it didn’t freeze all the way, but it was mighty tasty on a hot summer night!
Denise
http://WineFoodPairing.blogspot.com
On August 27th, 2008 at 2:30 pm ,Bobz wrote:
Perfect match:
Vodka/watermelon and getting smashed with Tish!
On August 29th, 2008 at 9:31 pm ,ceteka wrote:
since martini stole my bugey cerdon idea, i’d have to say prosecco
On September 13th, 2008 at 2:52 am ,Gman wrote:
I’ve found a sweet dessert wine does quite nicely. A personal favorite is from the Cowichan Valley in British Columbia Canada: Venturi-Shulze’s Brandenburg Number Three.
On September 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pm ,Luciana Braz wrote:
I, now, live in Brazil and that means paring fruit with wine is a quite usual..
Brazilian sparking wines (Miolo Milesime, Salton Sedução)_ as good as Cava _ is a refresh summer drink when mixed together.. and if you want to make it sexy, try put a little bit of ginger in the mix.. and don’t forget my royalties creditis..
On October 16th, 2009 at 11:05 am ,Le Vigne: opening a new wine shop in West Village | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] And people often want to experiment and pair wine with with non-traditional foods, such as watermelon soup, so he has to think creatively. He’ll give you a 10% discount for a case purchase and even […]
On March 12th, 2011 at 12:08 pm ,Ahli Anggur wrote:
Amarone. Kidding. Clairette de Die. Sparkling moscato-freisa.
On July 14th, 2011 at 4:54 pm ,UnknownWoman wrote:
I really don’t think any champagne will work at all. The sweetness of the watermelon will make any champagne tastes painfully acidic. One thinks that a Bugey may work, but I doubt it —
I had a wine with some RS with just plain berries two weeks ago, and the off-dry Austria GruVe tastes like lemonade (it was the 05 Prager Stockkultur).
An intriguing idea would be something actually tannic and bubbly (like the SYP Naked On Roller Skate sparkling shiraz) or something with salinity in it, like a particularly saline Asyrtiko from Santorini.