Ryan Sciara is always fielding requests for wine pairings. His intimate Crestwood wine store, Underdog Wine Co., has access to wines and wine styles from all over the world, and customers routinely rely on the taste and expertise of Sciara and his employees. “There is literally not a day that goes by where we don’t help somebody pair,” says Sciara. “As we get closer to the holidays, we have a handful of customers who will come in with their menu for Thanksgiving and want us to pair wines with each course. And it’s always a question of, how open-minded are your guests and what price point do you want to be in? We ask a ton of questions to try and find the right one.” We spoke to the wine expert to learn more.
What are some basic rules for wine pairing?
There are basic rules or guidelines, but the older I’ve gotten, the less I stick to those original guidelines. There are food and wine pairing rules like “red wine with meat, white wine with fish,” but those are all antiquated. It’s really more about, not necessarily the protein, but everything else going with it—sauce and seasoning can determine where you go with wine.
The basic rule when pairing desserts is the wine should be as sweet or sweeter than the dessert. If you have all the sugar in a dessert and pair it with a dry red wine that would have no residual sugar, it can make the wine taste bitter or thin.
How does chocolate pair with wine?
Generally, I don’t like recommending pairing wine with chocolate because most of the time it doesn’t work. There are things in chocolate that go directly against things in wine, or they have the same components. Dry red wines have antioxidants and tannins and can be on the bitter side. A chocolate with a lower percentage of chocolate, like 65 or 70 percent, gets replaced with milk fat and sugar. Now you’re getting into a range where it’s not as bitter, not as much tannin, and sparkling wines work really well. I used to be militant about [not pairing wine with chocolate], but at the same time, if people like to drink wine and eat chocolate, let them do it.
What is your process for dessert wine pairing?
If I have a milk chocolate with lavender or violet and strawberries, I think about what wine would share those characteristics—pinot noir right off the bat. Pinot noir has a high acidity, so it helps cut through the milk fat. It also has red fruit, floral characteristics. If the chocolate had something deeper, like blackberries, I’d lean more toward Shiraz and those darker fruit flavors. With caramel, you’ll want something like a tawny port.
Some wines and styles have a little residual sugar, like white zinfandels. I always like doing sparkling wines; Shiraz would give you the texture you’re missing, and that helps with chocolate. Lambrusco, a sparkling red wine, can work too. Port wines work really well because they have that 17 to 19 percent alcohol plus residual sugar, so you’ve got all that texture and sweetness.
We did do a chocolate tasting at André’s, with either five or six different chocolate truffles. That’s another way you can cheat—by either using flavored truffles or truffles with more milk fat, so less percentage of chocolate. We did all sparkling wines, like a crémant and a pét-nat—the pét-nats are pretty funky. We did do a lambrusco and a sparkling Shiraz. They worked because the chocolates we chose had specific flavors. I went with a lot of fruit and caramel because then you can pair pretty easily.
What is your current favorite wine?
If I had a desert island wine it would be some sort of Champagne. People don’t drink sparkling wines enough because they’re looked at as celebratory, but my wife and I try to drink some sort of sparkling wine at least once or twice a month. My taste profile is all over the place; it’s very weather-dependent—during the summer I drink lighter, brighter fresher red wines, rosés, and then when it dips a little cooler we get into bigger, warmer, things like syrah and mourvedra.
What things does Champagne pair well with?
Things that are “bruts” or “brut nature,” that don’t have any added sugar to them, are really versatile. They’re great with any seafood, great with mussels. I like doing Champagne and salty things: movie theater popcorn, potato chips. We did a tasting with Schramsberg, a sparkling wine producer, and did deviled eggs and potato chips. We got popcorn from Topsy and did a lot of fun things. People had a blast with it.
This interview was edited for length.
Seasonal Pairing Suggestions from Ryan Sciara:
Apple Cider Donuts
Von Winning Riesling Extra Brut Sekt $26
A beautiful dry sparkling riesling from Pfalz, Germany. Crisp apple, citrus, and spice notes.
Pumpkin Pie
El Maestro Sierra Pedro Ximenez Sherry $20
From a solera in its eighth decade with flavors of crème brûlée, marmalade, and toasted hazelnuts.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Niepoort Tawny Port $20
Aged for 3.5 years in oak. Sweet and rich with nut brittle, dried fruits, and caramel flavors.
Ginger Snaps
Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes $24
One of Sauternes’ estates. Luscious flavors of fresh pear, dried apricots, and honeyed citrus.