A list of the extraordinarily good junk food – wine pairings

It has been established that wine deserves to be in the most kingly of tables, opened in the most joyous of feasts and a permanent adornment in “still life” paintings. It is for the consumption of the learned, the refined, the cultured and the elite. Should you be offended or – as in the case of one of my friends – issue an elaborate double take – if I suggested that wine could also match perfectly with junk food? Essentially, wine pairs well with food. And junk foods – last time I checked – are still a type of comestibles, giving us our fill and providing its own kind of gastronomic pleasure. Basing on my personal experience, I could vouch for a number of excellent pairings, which I suggest for you try.

Chocolate Bars

These junk foods tend to overwhelm our palate with its rich flavors. It could also be painfully sweet. But these always come in handy after meal for they are ubiquitous in our refrigerators. I discovered sour wine to be perfect accompaniment. Consider Butterfinger. Chardonnay complements it perfectly on account of the tang of its acid and the flavor of oak and vanilla. Cloud Break Chardonnay, for example, demonstrates this impeccably and it adds a dash of butter flavor as well, a common ground by which all the other flavors are beautifully built on. The suggested wine tempers the sensory overload with its radically different flavors and evens things a bit, leading to very pleasant junk food feast.

Ice Cream

Aside from its rich and sweet taste, ice cream is also smooth and cold. For some reason, I found a glass of sherry the perfect complement for it. This could be attributed to the sharp fruity character of this wine, which is expertly blended with the standout flavors contributed by molasses and nuts.

Nacho Chips

Nacho chips – particularly those with really strong flavors – need an equally bold wine. The Sirah is a perfect candidate (i.e. Oak Grove Petite Sirah). Its strength is not reliant on a single dominating wine characteristic such as fruit flavor. There is a strong complexity that makes it a perfect match for nacho chips such as Doritos, or any corn chip with particularly strong cheese flavor.

Pizza

I am not sure whether I could consider pizza as junk food. I have been to fine dining restaurants that offer an array of this menu. But if the amount of calories and fat content are to be considered in order for this food to be qualified as junk, then I would quietly rest my case. Now, I would like to direct you to three important elements in this food: the dough, the meat and the cheese. Collectively they lead to a rich and fatty combination. In this case, I would like to recommend an Italian wine: a Chianti perhaps or an excellent Sangiovese. Aside from the fruity character of these wines, which would perfectly match the flavors of the pizza, it helps to remember that in food-wine pairing, the origin is also important. Pizza is an Italian staple and, hence, it should go well with wine produced in the same region.

Hotdog

Hotdog and its relations like frankfurters and sausages originated from Germany and neighboring regions. Basing from the same principle cited above, I paired this with wine shipped from the same location – the Zweigelt (try Zantho). The result was excellent. I should like to inform you that, in my opinion, this is one of the best pairings from this list. The food is salty, meaty and smoky and they suited the fruity taste and spicy aroma of the wine incredibly well!

 

With these excellent food-wine pairings, one could not help but feel a smug satisfaction as we proved some wine snobs wrong. Wine is not only good for fine dining, thank you very much.