Blake – Yes, bubbly is a good way to go for many foods that don’t have an obvious wine pairing. While Mrs. Vino is good for a glass of champers, she does prefer a good, lighter bodied red.

Marie – Good luck with your New Year’s resolution!

Jameson – Yes, it will be interesting to see what Trotter’s next move will be. At any rate, I’m glad his delivery trucks are no longer blocking my garage.

Nice, Gabe, glad you are getting into it. But what is this Bordeaux that you talk of?

GDFO – I think that’s changing, no? With places like Ubuntu and Alain Passard’s L’Arpege (among many others) showing that vegetarian dishes can be cooked at such a high level that they demand reflection for the wine pairing.

Mr. Zdur – Fining agents do pass through the wine, of course, and any residue in the wine must be in tiny amounts. Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue against better labeling requirements for wine.

I appreciate your point about how wine appealed to the lower classes and they may have eaten little meat. But many urban workers in the 19th century had to bring their flagon to fill and pay more for each wine as the alcohol level rose. And the level they had was on the order of 11 or 12% and I’d venture to say the wines didn’t see a lot of time in new oak barriques.

With many of the Big Reds today, it’s the alcohol and the oak that make them hard to pair with food in general and anything other than the fat and protein of a big steak. IMHO.

But I do agree that the idea of “if it grows together, it goes together” can be successfully extended to wine.

You have to check out the Michelin starred Ubuntu when you are in Napa, it is great and getting better all the time. Can’t wait till they open back up after taking the winter off.

Green beans almost always are better with a Cab or Bordeaux rather than a fruitier merlot.
Same for Broc and Bean dishes.

Asperagus will mostly go with sauv blancs.

Just think of the aromas and flavors and it is not such a difficult task.

I’m a vegetarian and red wine lover – part of my New Year’s Resolution’s is to pair my wines better with my cooking. Lots of hearty veggie fare, including beans, soups, sauces will go quite well with hearty reds.

Agree with Frank’s point above about matching the region – always a good idea as these pairings have had thousands of years to be figured out!

Mushrooms, squash, pulses and many cheeses will stand up to any reasonable red, and Oregon pinot noir, Burgundy or Beaujolais should do well with a variety of vegetable dishes. Bombastic Cab or Shiraz could be served with grilled vegetables.

For traditional vegetable dishes, match the region (Nero d Avola with pasta fagiole – my mouth waters as I type this).

We forget that wine in Europe was historically grown and made by peasants, who ate little meat, except on feast days. On the other hand, they drank wine at every meal.

Robin – yes, beets are tough. We tackled them once if you need some ideas:
http://www.drvino.com/2011/07/14/beet-salad-wine-pairing/

Blake – yes, I hear you. But I was struck by the WSJ article that reported a decline in meat sales in America. So something big is happening.

A Jones – for a lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian, such fining agents present no problem. For a vegan, however, they would. Either way, it’s hard to argue against better labeling.

Todd – Great attitude! Good luck and in the spirit of our “impossible” pairings, let us know if there’s anything you find particularly challenging.