Wine people always talk about pairings, and pairings are indeed important. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that the right wine with the right food produces something more than either wine or food could do by itself. I talk a lot about pairings in this column because it’s interesting to me, and because I don’t see enough of it in columns that I myself enjoy reading.

Columnist Chris Townsend sits down with good friends and good wine.  Take a trip with him to taste and experience this great wine from Pearmund Cellars.

When I first started wine tasting, I thought that some of these tasting notes had a “Emperor’s New Clothes” sort of feel, and especially the term terroir. I didn’t get eucalyptus from Australian Shiraz, or chalk from Chablis, or any those other things that the notes said I should be getting from the wine.   I developed my palate over time, but the terroir, the aspects of the soil region that go into the wine, has always been the toughest thing for me. 

This Sunday I told my wife I would be cooking dinner for her. The pork chops were defrosted and marinated in a garlic and sage paste and would be served with a side of polenta and roasted broccoli. The wine would be this month’s red selection from the VA Wine of the Month Club, Rockbridge’s 2007 Pinot Noir.

This month, I received Rockbridge Vineyard’s White Riesling as part of my Virginia Wine of the Month Club shipment.  I got married on October 3^rd and took the bottle with me on my honeymoon. My wife and I had it in our refrigerator all week long planning to have it on a picnic, in a hot tub or some other location...and well...it just didn’t work out. We got distracted. Yes, let’s leave it at that.