Rice

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today is food and wine pairing day. Last week I had guests for dinner and the rice turned out perfect, not just very good but perfect, and that has never happened to me. Today we talk about rice as the basis for a dish and of course the wine that goes with it.

Okay, so cooking rice is not my forte’, it seems I always have to add something to flavor the rice in a way to pair with the food and the wine I am serving. I do not view rice as a medium for what you put on it. I am very thoughtful about which rice I select for a dish. Brown rice and wild rice for example are nutty and heavier than white rices. To me a good middle rice is brown basmati rice as it’s not quite as earthy as most brown rice. I think jasmine rice can be too fragrant for some dishes. So, I will often use white basmati rice. I also enjoy recipes using flavorful stocks and juices. These choices will obviously change the nature of the dish in both texture and flavor. In the case of white basmati rice, made with a combination of chicken stock and orange juice it seems to work well with Syrah in the red category and Viognier in the white. When I create a nutty rich brown and wild rice combination I often include mushrooms in the rice and I find it to go well with old world Cabernet Sauvignon, like red Bordeaux. It is interesting that Risotto is one exception for me. I think by nature it’s starchy quality is a part of the dish and it creates the necessity for wines with higher crisper acidity. I encourage you to be creative with your rice and flavor it to pair well with your wine of choice. And thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.