Survey - Wine with / without food !

Bits of everything, really. All depends on the wine. If it's something like a NZ Riesling, we'll usually have a glass or two before the meal, then another with food. For most reds or more assertive/acidic whites like Aussie Rieslings, then we'll have it only with a meal.

There are other times when we may simply just have wine separately without any food at all, or for heavier botrytised wines, after dinner (sometimes with certain desserts, or alone *as* dessert).

My answer is C.

No. Sometimes I drink it alone, or with a light accompaniment (cheese, apple, dessert).

No, although usually it is what I do.

Yes. I will sometimes just have a glass. Even the big bold red wines. I will also taste several (sometimes many) wines at a wine tasting, for the purpose of figuring out which wines I do or do not want to spend money on, and sometimes for the fun of it.

(I exclude dessert wines from this survey, as they are often intended to be drunk alone or perhaps with a sweet finger food)

Jose

I seldom drink alcoholic beverages other than beer or wine, and drink very little beer.

Red wine: yesr.

White wine: no.

I'll start drinking and eat almost immediately thereafter. Often, when I am coooking the meal, I have to taste the wine first to make sure it's not bad or otherwise unsuitable.

Red wine: never.

White wine: occasionally.

It would be more accurate to say I would assert that only of red wines. White wines are a different animal altogether .

Nope. At least one glass before meal/during preparation.

Yes, every time. Sometimes one glass, two types, then have the same with dinner. If I go out to dinner, then no, only with the meal.

Nope, never. My whole wine-drinking ritual involves having a given set of friends over, having a glass or more over the dinner prep, more with dinner and sometimes a bit after. I always have cheese as an appetizer with the pre-dinner wine.

-ben

I seldom drink wine before dinner. I usually have a very simple low-fat breakfast and lunch without any alcohol. This helps keep the blubber off. I just had a physical and the physician found nothing wrong with my weight, lipid profile, or blood chemistry.

I also usually do not drink wine before dinner unless I have guests. I nearly always have a good table wine with dinner. Sometimes when at home and eating something that does not match very well with wine, I drink a wine alone with bread before or just after I eat a food that matches poorly. When I seldom eat something loaded with hot peppers, garlic, etc, I may skip wine and drink beer with the strong food. I seldom drink a very sweet wine with dinner - up to a Riesling auslese with carefully selected food. For something very sticky, I find that an hour or more after dinner is a good time. No food is necessary for many very sweet wines, but sometimes a bit of something that matches helps clean the palate. Of course I make exceptions for holidays and other special events.

When with guests (or at their house) this is usually the custom, I know only a few who drink anything other than wine as a cocktail. (If I'm at home and want a cocktail I usually prefer a good malt whiskey to wine).

Virtually never.

-E

"st.helier" wrote in news:efem71$p9a$ snipped-for-privacy@news.datemas.de:

No.

Question - is that supposed to read "...than with a meal?", or as it stands?

Yes, depends on the situation.

d.

Definitely (C)!

Dave

If you recall, I originally explained that red wines cannot be evaluated apart from their suitability as accompaniment to a meal. I never said that you should never drink them alone, but that they will not taste 'right' if you do. That's my position, accurately stated.

Did our favorite Uranium Committee say he "tasted" wine????

Hell might not have frozen over yet, but it might be worth building a wine cellar there. :)

Jose

I'm not quite sure how to parse that first sentence.

I agree that red wines (and white wines for that matter) will taste different in a meal and apart from it. Anise, mint, and basil also taste different in a dish, but that doesn't stop chefs from tasting the raw spices if possible when they want to pick a brand (they are different), or decide what to put into a new creation. Somehow, their brains have managed to incorporate the way flavors change, and "predict", to some extent, what will work well and what won't.

My position is that it does not take a superman to do that, and that it can be done with wine too. However, just like with cooking, it takes some practice.

Tasting a wine alone, and then tasting (or drinking) it with (various) foods, will give the taster something to compare, to integrate in their minds. Having it with one food, and then having it with another, is also a way to learn how wines can pair. And when one is in wine country going winery to winery selecting next year's case or two of quaff, one is rarely accorded the opportunity to taste the selections with a meal (and even if you did manage to score a meal with every sample, pretty soon you wouldn't fit in the airline seat!)

Some wines taste better with a meal. Those wines should usually be consumed that way, but if they taste good without a meal, friends can be a good foil too.

Jose

No

No. I do enjoy a glass of wine before the meal, then with the meal.

Yes

Did you read what I wrote? I tatse a bit to see if it is OK. I don't 'taste' wines to evaluate them, in the sense of bringing 10 bottles of Pinot Grigio to a "tasting party". I'm sure someone of your intellectual capabilities can understand the distinction.

Hello, Jose! You wrote on Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:25:01 GMT:

??>> (A) Do you drink wine solely when eating a meal?

No, I have it as an appetizer sometimes, usually a red wine no matter what I will drink with the meal.

??>> (B) Do you enjoy a glass or two, but only as an ??>> appetizer before, then with a meal?

No.

??>> (C) Or, do you sometimes drink wine when you have no ??>> intention of dining?

Not usually.

I might add that my son and his wife don't drink much wine with dinner but prefer to to buy a good wine (usually red) and finish it before dinner.

James Silverton Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

I meant that almost all red wines (and some white wines) will not show themselves well if not drunk as accompaniment to an appropriate meal (succulent meat dish or pasta with tomato sauce, etc., for red wines; appropriate fish or white meat dishes for whites, etc.). I cannot imagine sitting down with a glass of Barbera alone, without even a crust of bread. YECCHHH!!!!! Wine is not like a Martini or high-ball.

But most people are not chefs, and most people cannot evaluate wines solely from isolated tastings. Experts can. I want to speak against the practice of encouraginging people to imitate professional wine-tasting practices. It is not the way for people who are going to drink the wine, as consumers, to learn about wine.

Quite a bit of practice. People should not be 'encouraged' to approach learning about wines by imitating professional tasting tactics, but rather encouraged to drink them with appropriate accompaniment. (I have been drinking wine for decades, and I do not 'taste' wines in the manner of pros, ever. I consider it a waste of time.)

Nope. With or without.

I have a few glasses prior to a meal then usually open something to go with the particular meal.

As above I have a few glasses prior to a meal, during a meal and after a meal. Many times no meal at all. If I'm socializing with friends we all sip on wine, no meal at all.

I greatly prefer sipping on Reds when not having a meal. Whites I pretty much only drink with a meal that is too light for most reds although thats rare for me.

Thats your view. It doesn't work at all for me. The reds I enjoy taste right when I am drinking them. I choose the one that fits my current tastes for the moment at hand...with or without a meal. What works for you may or maynot work for any given individual.