Now, though, wine pairing is much more than these generic matches.  While it is said that taste is subjective, there are quantifiable measures of taste that allow for pairing outside of the subjective flavors that are personal to the drinker.  Wine experts, then, seek to determine these tastes—bitter (tannins), sweet (residual sugar), and sour (acidity) components that are attributed to wines and subsequently used to match them with the foods they will most complement.  There is also a fourth component, the alcohol content, that causes a “heat” in the back of the mouth and some foods work to downplay that heat while others bring attention to it.

A wine’s tannins, derived from the skins, seeds, and stems of the grape, can be somewhat bitter.  When paired with dishes that are high in fat and protein (think red meat or hard cheese), the foods can tame those tannins, softening their astringent character.  Spicy foods or charred, seared foods, too, can complement the drying effect of the tannins.

The sweetness of wine will oftentimes balance spice and heat of a dish, but it can also accentuate sweet foods or contrast with salty fare.  Pair sweet wines with spicy Asian cuisine, for example, and the sugars in the wine will offset the spice of the peppers.  Bleu cheese couples well with sweet wine because the saltiness of the cheese is offset by the sugar content in the drink.

Acidity in wine can heighten the perception of flavors in a dish, but it can also be used to reduce them as well.  Rely on acidic wines to play off of foods in much the same manner as combinations used in cooking.  For example, the acidity of a lemon can be used to offset briny shellfish such as clams or oysters.  Serving a tart, acidic meal with an overly tart wine will allow the flavors to be more noticeable.

The alcohol content of a wine determines its weight and body, and heavier wines increase the awareness of density or texture in a meal.  Hefty wines should be used when you want to emphasize a quality of spiciness, saltiness, or weight in a meal, such as pairing a substantial cabernet with a marbled steak seared over an open flame.

The key to pairing wine with food is really to think of wine traits as flavor ingredients.  Using the tasting tools from previous articles, learn to tease out the subtleties of your favorite wines to then pair them with your favorite foods.  Below are just a few of the styles of wine and their best food counterparts to get you started.

Cabernet Sauvignon:  With strong tannins, this elegant wine pairs well with well-marbled beef and hearty fowl, foods with spicy rubs or soy marinades, and with grilled meats.

Merlot:  Rounder and softer than Cabernet, fruity Merlot is often matched with meaty fish such as tuna, lamb, or meats with fruit sauces.

Pinot Noir:  This light-bodied, low tannin red works best with earthy foods such as mushrooms or lentils, as well as with wild game such as venison.

Chardonnay:  The rich, creamy texture of this wine pairs well with white fish, poultry, and pork.  It is also a nice complement to pastas with cream and butter sauces, and works well with the creamy textures of winter squash.

Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio:  Crisp and light, with great acidity, match this wine with fresh herbs and coconut curries, with mild cheeses, or with shellfish and chicken.

Sauvignon Blanc:  This lean, crisp wine is a perfect addition to summertime fare, such as salads with mild vinaigrette dressing and green vegetables.  Its flexibility also allows for the combination of delicate fish or oysters, and a large variety of cheeses.

Champagnes/Sparkling wines:  Most dry sparkling wines are tinged with just a touch of sweet, making them a perfect accompaniment to salty foods or berries.

Although there is an art, and maybe even a bit of a science, to matching foods and wines, remember, too, that taste and enjoyment are very subjective and there is no real textbook way to account for your personal satisfaction.  What you read about pairing is really meant to be a guideline to demonstrate how the textures and flavors, weight, sugars, alcohol content, tannins, and acids of wine work with those same elements of a meal.  Practice will help you to understand your own preferences, and who doesn’t like to hone their skills when it involves eating great food and drinking great wine?

The post What’s Your Wine? Pairing with Food appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Every wine glass is comprised of three different parts:  the bowl, the stem, and the base.  The base allows the glass to stand up, and the stem allows you to hold the glass without warming the wine or smudging the glass.  The most imperative, though, is the bowl—designed specifically to allow the appropriate amount of surface area for the wine you are drinking.  Generally speaking, white wine does not need to breathe as much as its red counterpart and thus white wine glasses are taller with narrower openings whereas red wine glasses are designed with a larger surface area, allowing the wine to “breathe.”

White wine glasses typically come in two shapes. Both are tall, u-shaped, and upright to help maintain the optimal cooler serving temperatures.  But younger whites, such as a crisp sauvignon blanc, require a slightly larger opening to direct the wine to the tips and sides of the tongue to allow the drinker to taste its sweetness.  More mature whites, as in a buttery chardonnay, necessitate a straight and tall glass, dispensing the wine to the back of the tongue so that its bolder flavors are sensed.

Red wine glasses are, as mentioned, fuller and rounder to allow one to dip their nose in and smell the complexities of the bouquet as the wine comes into contact with the air.  A Bordeaux glass is taller, with a slightly smaller bowl, and is designed for full-bodied red wines such as cabernet or merlot—the tall glass sends the wine directly to the back of your mouth to maximize its flavor.  The more delicate flavors of lighter red wines—think Pinot Noir—require a larger bowl to direct the wine toward the tip of the tongue.

When drinking sparkling wines, the intent is to capture the flavor while retaining the carbonation and keeping the fluid as cold as possible for as long as possible.  Fluted glasses with long stems are optimal for the enjoyment of your favorite bubbly.

Dessert wines are slightly higher in alcohol content so serving them in small glasses is ideal.  Additionally, smaller glasses direct the wine to the back of the mouth, slightly quelling its sweetness.

Practically speaking, it may be difficult to offer a glass style for every wine provided, either in your home or in your restaurant.  A general suggestion, then, would be to make sure you have flutes on hand for sparkling wines, and some sort of all-purpose red wine glass as well as an all-purpose white glass.  Or at the very least, choose a single glass with a bowl shape between that of a red and white wine glass so that it acceptable to use no matter the drink preference of your diner.

As for the material of a wine glass, the favorable choice is crystal or blown glass because the glass is thin, as is the rim, so as not to inhibit the flow of the wine you are drinking.  While designs on wine glasses can be fun, clear and smooth is preferred because it allows one to appreciate the legs of the wine, how the light affects the color, and the clarity and texture of the wine being tasted.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, how you clean your wine glasses matters.  Hand washing in hot water only is the preferred method of cleaning, as it does best at preventing soap build-up.  However, if you must use soap, remember that less is more when washing your wine glasses.

Drinking wine should be a pleasure, and while good wine is a pleasure in and of itself, pairing it with the appropriate glass can intensify your wine tasting experience.  Whether red wine, white wine, or sparkling wine is your drink of choice, give the optimal glass choice a try and see if you notice a difference.

The post What’s Your Wine? Why the Glass Matters appeared first on Houston's Blog.

You can party Mardi Gras-style without traveling to New Orleans, though.  Get yourself a few strands of colorful beads and a mask, and make yourself a cocktail or two to celebrate the season.  Have you ever attended the festivities in New Orleans?  Or have you made your own party somewhere else?  Try out one of these French Quarter-inspired libations, and let us know how you like to celebrate…

Hurricane

2 ounces light rum

2 ounces dark rum

2 ounces passion fruit syrup

1 ounce orange juice

1 ounce lime juice

1 ounce dark rum

½ ounce simple syrup

½ ounce grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker, strain into a large Hurricane glass filled with ice.  Garnish with an orange wheel and a cherry.

French 75

1 ½ ounces gin

¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ ounce simple syrup

¼ cup chilled dry sparkling wine or Champagne

Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for 20 seconds.  Strain into a Champagne flute, then top with chilled sparkling wine.  Garnish with a lemon twist.

Blue Bayou Cocktail

1 ½ ounces vodka

½ ounce blue curacao

½ cup fresh pineapple

2 ounces grapefruit juice

For a frozen treat, blend ingredients in a blender with 1 cup crushed ice until smooth.  Pour into a cocktail glass.  Or combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake for 20 seconds, then pour into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a pineapple wedge.

The post Feeling Festive? The Season of Mardi Gras is Upon Us! appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Planning ahead is imperative to owners wanting to capitalize on the couples who will dine in their restaurant.  Line up enough staff to handle the workload seamlessly, or at least make it look like a well-oiled machine—organized chaos, as some have called the waltz of the restaurant staff when they are “in the weeds.”  Plan for seating, as most diners will be coming in as parties of just two—and you will need to accommodate that without causing your wait list to explode.  Will your four-top tables split down into two?  If not, what other creative options may you have to modify your seating?  Plan your menu according to the rush you are sure to have and what your kitchen staff can handle.  Deborah Schneider, chef of Sol Cocina in Newport Beach, says that “a wise chef will offer their regular menu and add a few engaging Valentine’s specials.”  While this is a choice of many establishments, others opt for a complete menu shift, offering a fixed-price multiple-course meal to their diners in order to allow their kitchen to smoothly handle the craziness that accompanies a full and busy restaurant.  Some opt to keep their menu unchanged, but provide discounts to drive traffic through their doors.  Still others, especially in smaller neighborhood establishments, use the special day to encourage long-term loyalty by extending a la carte choices at a great price so patrons can sample multiple items, maybe discover new favorites, and ensure their return at a later date.  Other popular ideas include Valentine-themed items such pink cocktails, heart-shaped pasta, champagnes, or roses for sale on their premises.  There are even restaurants who will cater to the lovebirds who come to dine with their nest of children, offering deeply discounted kids’ meal prices or dessert favorites for the younger foodies.

Lastly, though Valentine’s Day is certainly a day that caters to sweethearts, many restaurant owners seize the opportunity to indulge the anti-amorous, with promotions designed to draw in those flying solo on this .  Special cocktail concoctions such as shots of “Love Stinks”—a mixture of grape vodka, raspberry liqueur, and cranberry juice—or “Love on the Rocks”—a creation of vodka, peach schnapps, orange and pomegranate juice over ice—are sure to help ease the pang of loneliness when one finds themselves dateless on the biggest date night of the year.

Opportunities abound for big sales for the Saturday night Valentine’s Day.  The key is to be sure to show the love—by being prepared for big business and by offering what your guests are looking for.  Plan carefully, and make sure that your every move reflects your appreciation of the portion of that $10 billion that gets thrown your way.  Your goal, after all, is a happy patron who will gladly return in the very near future.  How will you earn their loyalty?

The post Show the Love this Valentine’s Day appeared first on Houston's Blog.

Photo courtesy of Libbey.

Quality and affordability combine to make one fantastic new line:  the Spiegelau Wine Lovers collection by Libbey.  Known in the industry for its high performance and detailed craftsmanship, Spiegelau is dedicated to producing the best possible glass and has yet to disappoint.

Spiegelau’s Platinum Glass technology—the process of passing liquid glass through platinum-lined tubes—increases  the durability of the glass, leaving you with brilliant, scratch- and fog-resistant glasses even after 1500 dishwasher cycles.

The Wine Lovers collection is available in three different bowl shapes, each designed to enhance character and bouquet.  The red wine glass offers a larger opening to the bowl, allowing the lovely aroma of the wine to reach the air and then the nose, heightening the overall red wine experience.  Opt for the Bordeaux glass for fuller-bodied, heavier wines such as Cabernets and Merlots.  The glass is taller, which maximizes flavor by allowing the wine to directly reach the back of the mouth.  Serve whites in the straighter white wine glass—U-shaped and upright—to help maintain the chill of the wine while still allowing the aroma to escape.   And for champagne or sparkling wine choices, opt for the Wine Lovers flute—the narrow shape retains carbonation and captures the flavor of the beverage in the glass.

Hard-wearing glassware that retains its elegant clarity at an unbeatable price makes Wine Lovers collection the obvious choice for any dining establishment.   Because really, what’s not to love?

The post For the love of wine: Spiegelau Wine Lovers Collection appeared first on Houston's Blog.

BEER SERVICE

Pint/Tapered/Mixing:  The simplicity of this glass makes it a good choice for most types of beer.

Mugs/Stein:  Heavy and thick with sturdy handles, these mugs are built to hold beer without breaking, and are often used when the beer is meant to be very cold.  A stein is similar to a mug with one exception:  it includes a thumb rest or a lid.

Pilsner:  Flared at the top to help maintain a stronger beer head that is not desired in darker beers, these glasses serve pilsner and lager beers well.  They are also perfect for holding water, soda, or ciders.

WINE SERVICE

Red Wine:  Generally a larger glass, although one should only be poured to about a third full to allow the wine to aerate.  Designed with a larger rim, this glass will allow the person to smell the aroma while sipping the wine.  Stemless red wine glasses also work well as there is not a concern with the heat transfer from a guest’s hands since the wine is already served at room temperature.

White Wine:   Typically a smaller glass than a red wine glass, the goal is to keep the chilled wine at temperature for the duration of the drink.  Although stemless white wine glasses are available, the wine will stay chilled longer if held by a stem.

Sherry:  Also called a “copita,” this glass resembles a red wine glass, though smaller.  Its narrow rim enhances the strong aroma of sherry or port wines.

Champagne Tulip/Coupe:  Part of the fun in serving or drinking champagne is to see the bubbles rise.  For this purpose, and to keep the sparkle from going flat, the tulip-shaped glass is a perfect choice.  The coupe is an elegant choice for a toast, but keep the serving size low—the short, round bowl of the glass is not optimal for bubble retention.

MISCELLANEOUS GLASSWARE

Beverage/Water/Iced Tea:  Similar in size and shape, these are generally considered a multi-purpose glass and are great for holding main beverages—from water to iced tea, sodas to milkshakes.

Highball:  Usually holds 8-12 fluid ounces.  This glass is typically taller than an Old Fashioned but shorter and wider than a Collins.  Use for mixed drinks that require large amounts of juice, soda, or ice, or as an all-purpose beverage glass.

Brandy:  Often referred to as a “snifter,” this glass is balloon-shaped with a short stem, which allows the glass to be cupped to transfer heat from the hand to the glass, naturally warming the beverage.  The balloon shape traps the aroma of the beverage in the glass.  Typically associated with brandy and Cognac service, the glass has evolved to present aged whiskeys as well.  The bowl of the glass should only be filled to a quarter or a third of capacity to allow the beverage to breathe.

Coffee:  Serves the same purpose as a coffee mug, but with a more elegant appeal.  This glass is perfect for adding a decorative touch to alcoholic coffee beverages.

Collins:  Originally designed to hold a Tom Collins, the glass is now used for serving many different types of mixed drinks.  This tumbler usually holds between 10-14 fluid ounces.  It is distinguished from a high ball by its narrow, cylindrical shape.

Cordial:  Small and dainty, this glass can be used to serve any sweet liqueur, and can also double as a beer sampler when an establishment wishes to maintain an elegant theme.

Margarita:  This glass has an exceptionally wide bowl, specifically designed for the salted or sugared rim often associated with a margarita.  The glass will often have a smaller bowl beneath the large bowl, although this is a purely aesthetic addition.

Martini/Cocktail:  For beverages that don’t call for carbonation or ice.  The drinker can hold the glass by the stem, thus maintaining the chilled temperature of the drink.  The shape of this glass also ensures the full effect of aromatic beverages as the drink is placed directly under the drinker’s nose.  Cosmopolitan glasses are stemless versions of a Martini/Cocktail glass.

Rocks/Old Fashioned:  Generally small enough to hold only ice and the liquor of choice.  Sometimes drinks served with “a splash” of water, soda, etc., or a mixed drink that is smaller (such as its namesake, the Old Fashioned) will be served in a Rocks or Old Fashioned Glass.  A Double Old Fashioned maintains the same shape as a Rocks or Old Fashioned, but holds about one and a half times as much, making it an ideal candidate for beverages served with fruit or other solid ingredients.

Shot/Shooter/Whiskey:   Typically designed to hold just 1-2 ounces of a single liquor or liquor mixed with another spirit or non-alcoholic ingredient.  In general the beverage is not sipped but rather “shot” quickly, although this is not always the case.  The shot glass is also often a bartender’s choice for measuring the alcoholic ingredient in a mixed drink.  Shooters are normally taller than a shot glass, and whiskey glasses are usually a bit wider to accommodate ice when requested.

The post Glassware 101 appeared first on Houston's Blog.