BASICS TO PAIRING WINE WITH HAM Fruity Wines – Ham, with its sweet-and-salty richness, pairs best with wines that have a touch of sweetness, plenty of acidity and bold fruit. Great ham-wines include Riesling, Moscato, Chenin Blanc, Rosé, Lambrusco, Grenache and Zinfandel. What wine goes with ham? The general profile of ham is sweet, salty, textured and rich, but you’ll find quite a bit of variation in ham depending on what you get. Because of this, you can pick from a range of wines that work great! A Li’l History: Ham has been a big deal for a very long time–at least as far back as the time of Gaul. In the 1700’s, ham was a primary component of the sailor’s diet and demand spread throughout the world. Today, the pig-based cured meat has quite a range of tastes; from the specially smoked Westphalian hams of Germany (made from acorn-fed pigs), to the thick-sliced deli-counter “honey ham” that you’ve been putting on your croque-monsieur. There are 3 major production methods of ham, which include salting (dry-curing), wet-curing and smoking.

However, since some producers use a combination of all 3 methods, we’ve organized ham by taste (and cited a few examples) so that you can get a better idea of the flavor pairing ideology. Perfect plate of Prosciutto di Parma source Thinly-sliced, bold flavored hams with a chewy texture and typically higher salt content. A classic example of this style of ham, that nearly all of us know, is the Italian favorite, Prosciutto. You’ll find ham in this style typically served in micro-thin sheets as a melt-in-your mouth appetizer. The high saltiness factor and dryness of the meat begs for sparkling wine. You’ll also do very well with a sparkling Rosé or even a sparkling red. Other great pairing options include still Rosé, crisp minerally and herbaceous white wines, dry Sherry (perhaps a Fino or Manzanilla Sherry), and dry Madeira (such as a 5-year Verdelho or Sercial Madeira). Medium to thick cut sliced ham with a medium to bold flavor that’s not sweet. This style is typically smoked but ranges in size from full-sized fresh hams that you bake in the oven to pre-sliced ham that you buy at the grocery store.

This less-sweet style of ham could also include processed ham like Mortadella and Spam. Since this style of ham is juicier and not as salty as a dry-cured ham, it is one of the better choices to match with lighter red and rosé wines.good wine names in india With less sweetness and more texture, you’ll be delighted with a medium-bodied fruity red with moderate acidity. red wine book clubThere is a great range of wines to choose from in this style and here are a few favorites to know: Grenache-based reds (such as the GSM blend), Zinfandel, new-world style Pinot Noir, Zweigelt (from Austria!), Dornfelder (Germany), deeply-colored Rosé, The Corvina-based red wines of Valpolicella, Aged Tempranillo, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Primitivo-Negroamaro blends from Puglia, and “Secco” (dry) Lambrusco.best type of wine with fish

Canadian Bacon aka “back bacon” source These are typically medium to thick cut hams with a chewy texture and noticeably sweet flavor.Since this style of ham is sweet, you’ll want to match with wines that are also sweet or taste very fruity. best type of wine with turkeyYou might be surprised by some of the recommended pairings but they taste outstanding!what food goes best with port wine The best way to pair with foods that have sweetness is to have a wine with sweetness too. wine duty free usaOn the more dry side, pick a Riesling, Chenin Blanc or White Zin/Merlot. good italian wine redOn the sweeter side go for Moscato, Brachetto d’Acqui, Vin Santo and White Port. wine bar ideas home

You can probably get away with more new-world style reds including Australian Shiraz, South African Pinotage and American Petite Sirah. Here are a few pairing ideas for wine with ham to get you started. Classic Regional Ham Pairingstop 10 brand wine in india In Europe, there are many different types of ham with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. PDO is a classification method similar to wine or cheese (think Parmigiano-Reggiano) that guarantees the regional specialty. Try local regional wine with it! Here are a few great examples: Jamón Ibérico with dry Sherry Prosciutto with Moscato d’Asti Speck with Rheingau Riesling Pair Wine with Food Everyday See the advanced food & wine pairing chart to match wines with different ingredients and preparation methods. The Advanced Food and Wine Pairing ChartAdd your favorite wine ham pairing to the comments!

Matching wine with food can be a challenge at a gathering such as Easter dinner. After all, three or more generations may be on hand. If the main course is baked ham, the traditional Easter favorite, there is no single "right" choice. And some family members probably won't hesitate to voice their opinions of the wine's color, flavor, even its price.In the interest of pleasing the greatest number, I recommend offering two different wines with the ham.To begin, some of the deductive reasoning Sherlock Holmes always insisted was "elementary" is in order.Ham is pork, a meat congenial to both red and white wines. But in the transformation to ham, the pork leg has been cured and flavored with sugar, salt and possibly wood smoke or a fabricated facsimile thereof. As a result, high-acid whites such as sauvignon blanc and astringent reds such as cabernet sauvignon tend to taste bitter or harsh with ham.In addition, the cooking process can include glazing the surface, which may be studded with aggressively flavored cloves, covered with pineapple and basted with fruit juice and/or melted jam or jelly.

The sauce may be dominated by spices and the rich flavor of raisins.At this juncture, a wine-lover probably will be tempted to put away the corkscrew and serve soft drinks, fruit juice and maybe frosty beer for alcohol-inclined adults.Instead, if you are the cook, go easy on the cloves and citrus fruit. If the sauce is fruit-flavored, don't intensify the sweetness or offset it with something bitter to obtain a sweet-sour flavor. (If you are not the cook, lobby for these concessions.)Now explore the rest of the menu. What vegetables will be served with the ham? What dish or dishes precede it?Presuming the food is reasonably traditional (a vegetable or fish soup to begin, for example, followed by potatoes and a green vegetable with the ham), I recommend the following. Prices quoted are for wines available at Zimmerman's Wine and Liquor Warehouse, 213 W. Grand Ave.The white wine: a fairly dry, nicely fruity riesling such as Chateau Ste. Michelle (Washington State) 1992 barrel fermented ($4.99).

It can be enjoyed as well with a first-course vegetable soup or even asparagus. Alternative whites if the ham is an assertively cured, salty, country version: 1992 Sutter Home white zinfandel ($3.59) or a sparkling wine such as Celliers des Fontaurais blanc de blancs from France ($8.99). For a wine that reflects the religious significance of the day: 1992 Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio bianco from Italy ($12.99).The red wine: Baked ham often is matched with the local red wine in the Burgundy region of France. Therefore, lacking a graceful Cotes du Beaune in the cellar, the budget-conscious should consider an American pinot noir such as Saintsbury (Carneros) 1991 ($14.99). As an option, choose a lush and fruity shiraz from Australia. I recommend 1992 Rosemount Diamond shiraz ($7.99) Or offer a pair of bookends by choosing Sutter Home's red zinfandel ($4.49) to offer along with the white.If all this seems too daunting, lobby for serving lamb-next year if not this. No one will argue when you pour the magic Bordeaux vintages of 1988, '89 or '90 or a California cabernet sauvignon from the exceptional 1991 vintage to accompany a rare- or medium-rare leg or rack of lamb.

Alsatian activistAlsatian winemaker Andre Ostertag, intense, energetic and vastly talented, buzzed through Chicago recently like a heat-seeking missile. Although less than 500 cases of his wines reach Chicago each year, he welcomes the challenge of trying to establish a beachhead in this country."If you go only to places where you are known," he says, "you'll never learn the true value of your wines."Clearly challenge-prone, he produces riesling, gewurztraminer, sylvaner, pinot blanc, pinot gris and more than a dozen other wines-mostly white-from vines in 70 locations within Alsace. Most of Ostertag's wines are very dry, but he makes some lovely, sweet, late-harvest gewurztraminer and riesling as well. "Too complicated," he says, but his considerable curiosity and commitment to innovation make it unlikely he will streamline his operation.Instead Ostertag, who tartly dismisses the sweet, somewhat delicate wines of nearby Germany ("The Germans drink them while watching television") in favor of the drier, "made for food" whites of Alsace, seeks to simplify things by making them more complex.