Wine & Tapas – Grape to Glass (2024)

FAQs

What kind of wine is used in tapas? ›

In fact most tapas' sessions can start with a chilled dry sherry, then move onto a Rosado/Rosé or a Spanish white wine like an Albariño, or a crisp dry Riesling, or even a Chablis, with seafood tapas and then move onto a red Rioja Crianza or light Syrah, or a Rhône-Valley red blend with meat or mushroom-based dishes.

It's always important to let your own palate be your guide. White or sparkling wine is usually best with starters. With antipasto perhaps a Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc. With sushi or tuna carpaccio, Champagne or Sauvignon Blanc.

Match Weight

Matching a food's weight with a wine's weight is the most fundamental part of pairing food and wine. The idea is that a heavy food will overshadow a light wine, and vice versa. In general, one side of the pairing should not completely dominate the other. That is what most people tend to prefer.

You'll select three different wines (two bottles of each wine for a group of 10 people), which should give everyone a two to three ounce tasting per wine and an opportunity to revisit for a full glass after the teaser.

Types of Tapas

Cosas de Picar - The most popular type of tapas, cosas de picar, are finger foods. The term roughly translates to “nibbles.” Examples include marinated olives, marcona almonds, and Manchego cheese slices. Pintxos - Pintxos are small finger foods served in bars throughout the Spanish Basque country.

The general rule of thumb is to serve a wine at least as sweet or sweeter than the food being served. Sweet foods make dry wines seem over-acidic and tart. Sweet wines with a good level of acidity, such as Sauternes, are a perfect match for rich foods like pâté.

Red Wine Wine to Serve with Your Appetizers

Pinot Noir pairs well with crostini topped with mushrooms and parmesan cheese. Cabernet Sauvignon is a safe bet with a cheese board. Malbec goes great with roasted carrots and a red pepper stuffed with eggplant.

Pairing a bold wine like cabernet sauvignon or syrah with delicate dishes like white fish is a major no-no. Save those wines for hearty fare, rich meat sauces and grilled or smoked meats. The same is true for cheese. Strong cheeses call for robust wines—like pairing Stilton with port.

Red wines pair best with bold flavored meats (e.g. red meat). White wines pair best with light-intensity meats (e.g. fish or chicken). Bitter wines (e.g. red wines) are best balanced with fat. It is better to match the wine with the sauce than with the meat.

Offering half a bottle of wine per person is common, and is a good rule of thumb as a minimum unless you know several guests don't drink wine.

What snacks pair well with wine? ›

Beaujolais, Chianti or Sangiovese with mixed nuts and nuts with dried fruit. Pinot Gris/Grigio will balance the oil and salt of chips. Merlot can pair well with onion-flavored chips, or with chips and sour cream dip. Try Zinfandel with barbecue chips.

Most Spanish wine lovers are probably familiar with grapes like Tempranillo, Garnacha, Monastrell (Mourvèdre), Albariño, Viura and Verdejo.

Major Spanish wine regions include the Rioja and Ribera del Duero, which are known for their Tempranillo production; Jumilla, known for its Monastrell production; Jerez de la Frontera, the home of the fortified wine Sherry; Rías Baixas in the northwest region of Galicia that is known for its white wines made from ...

Rioja is Spain's best-known red wine, and cava is starting to become a household name abroad (more than 60 percent of cava is exported). Sherry wine is also fairly well known, though many people may only be familiar with the sweet and dark varieties and would be surprised to learn how diverse it actually is.

With a hot item, choose something like an amontillado. With fried tapas, for example, chipirones or croquetas, a great match is a sparkling wine from Spain. Many Spanish wines are underrated in their high quality and are very reasonable priced. Rosado is the Spanish name for rosé.