When a good pairing is made, food and wine work to compliment one another, enhancing both the flavors of the wine and the meal its served with. The pairing of food and wine is even considered an art by some--experience with the flavors, acidity, tannins, alcohol levels, and unique varietal attributes of the wine are all things that are carefully thought of in order to make the perfect food-wine match. Master sommeliers do it for a living. Winemakers will often rate their own masterpieces with accompaniments of food as to bring out the taste of the vino.
{love your food love your wine}
However, recent studies from Wine Opinions show that an increasing amount of wine consumers are drinking wine without food. I even found articles in both the Napa Valley Register AND in The New York Times, validating this wine sans food trend. While I do not find this surprising for people of my generation, I still find this study to be quite interesting as it spans people of all ages. I have always been taught that wine is always to be properly consumed with at least a little bite to eat on the side. Then again, I am sort of a wine nerd, and I definitely enjoy doing as the French do. Plus, I always love a good wine-food pairing--each acts to bring out different qualities from one another. BUT, I know that wine has become a more casual beverage than it has been in the past, especially in the U.S. This has been great news to certain wine manufacturers and had shown an increase in wine sales from younger age groups.
{Wine and Dine}
So if wine is becoming increasingly popular to drink by itself, I think this brings those in the wine industry something new to consider. A winemaker's decision may now be influenced with the the mind frame of serving the drink on its own. This can definitely bring a new challenge for the wine industry, especially because certain wines don't even stand a chance on their own.
What do you think? Are you at all surprised by this?
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