Food changes wine in ways that people often don’t realize. Sometimes they think they don’t like a wine because they taste it with food that ruins it. And, other times, a perfect pairing brings wine to new heights!

Last night I opened a Dry Viognier (2007 Hess Small Block Series, Mt Veeder, Napa Valley Estate Grown) to celebrate my sister moving next door to me.  I served it with sliced toasted baquette, goat cheese and dried apricots (chopped).  Fantastic!

For dinner, we had my Easy French Dinner paired with a Lynmar 2006 Quail Hill Pinot Noir.

To demonstrate how a wonderful Viognier can disappoint with the wrong food, I poured an additional taste of the Viognier.  The creamy, buttery fish made the Viognier taste tinny and sour.  Too much acidity in the wine did not compliment the food. Fortunately, we have some Viognier left over for another round of appetizers tonight. Or I perhaps I’ll pair it with a dessert! Yum!