Wine Food Pairing - Liver Dumpling Soup...YIKES!!

Wine Food Pairing - Liver Dumpling Soup...the BIG question is who likes liver and why would you want to make dumplings with this filtering organ?

The Austrians love this stuff in a big way and the soup is called Leberknoedel Suppe. It is served at almost all the local gasthaus or cafes and I must admit that the soup tasted terrific. A wonderful rich broth, with no funky liver texture, but still....YIKES!!!!! Dining in a foreign country is always an adventure and sometimes a challenge.

My husband is Austrian and he knows my likes and dislikes, but sometimes, when he gets that vague look on his face as he is explaining a new dish to me, I know that perhaps, there is a "small" chance, that I am being "scammed" into eating something that normally would not cross my lips!

Needless to say, I had the soup and paired it with a zweigelt, a light bodied red wine from Austria and the combo was terrific! Of course the typical bread basket with an assortment of all the wonderful European breads.

Wine Food Pairing in Austria .... an adventure and a treat for the senses......try something new! CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing ..... Ten Bottles of Wine!

Wine Food Pairing .... how many bottles of wine are we going to taste?

Michaela said she had ten, but I think the seven of us only managed six....YIKES!!!!! OK, the celebration started at 4:00pm and ended at 11:00pm....what an evening.

We started the afternoon with a, hot out of the oven, nusstrudel (nut strudel) that Michaela had whipped up earlier and we paired it with a red wine, Attila, from Berger in Donnerkirchen. The strudel was terrific, but the wine was a bit too "oakey" for my taste.

Next came the Rahmsuppe, which is mix of sour cream, potatoes, water and spices including caraway seeds....delicious, as the first snow flakes fluttered by the window.

Our friend Paolo popped the cork on the next wine...a Blaufrankisch from an Austrian vinter named Kiss, a perfect compliment to the hearty soup........ and so the evening and wine food pairing continued until we ended the night with a Sparkling Rose from Hafner.

The flames in the fireplace damped down and the candlelight picking up the highlights of the blush colored rose, we said our goodbyes to a wonderful evening and to good friends....CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - Pancake Soup!

What is pancake soup and what kind of wine food pairing should you do?

Actually, the Austrians call it frittaten suppe. The noodles are made from thinly sliced crepes, added to a rich broth and garnished with chopped fresh chives! A flavorful and hearty meal on a cold day. Add a basket full of hot out of the oven bread sticks and you have a WINNER!

I paired this with a medium dry zweigelt (red wine).......YUM!

A quick meal, on a cold, rainy day.......Wine Food Pairing...... sometimes a challenge, but always an adventure! CHEERS!!

Wine Food Pairing - Blanc de Rouge and?

Wine Food Pairing ...... So much wine and so little time! My good friend Traudl, from Traudl's Heuriger, sent us off from her wine house with a couple of cases of terrific wines that they make right there on their wine farm. What could be better than wine made with a little Austrian love?

We decided on a very light "blush" wine named Blanc de Rouge......my husbands challenge, to come up with a meal to pair with this delightful wine.

The chef's hat came out, the kitchen was turned upside down, but the result was worth waiting for! The Austrian came up with a variation of the knoedel...the traditional Austrian dumpling...... He called it a wurstknoedel.......translation....a light potato dumpling stuffed with a hearty mix of ham, sausage and bacon. He served this with a crisp, mixed salad of greens dressed with pumpkin seed oil....YIKES!!!!!! What a meal!

Dessert, yes, just a bit....... was an "almost" eiswein (ice wine from Traudl's), very sweet and just the right finishing touch.....the wine? Lukas, a chardonnay ausbruch......

Enjoy the adventure of Wine Food Pairing ....be bold....try new things! CHEERS!!

For more information on Truadl's terrific wines you can visit her at:
http://www.traudls-heuriger.at

Wine Food Pairing ... Weinheber a MUST!


Wine Food Pairing has MUST HAVE accessories.....this elegant hanging wine decanter is called a Weinheber and originated in Austria. Produced by Salzburger Kristallglas they add a certain European flair to any wine food pairing gathering and, when placed in the center of the table, allows all participants to refill their glasses as needed! SUPER!

Here we were getting ready to enjoy a chardonnay from our friend Traudl's winery along with a bit of cheese.

Wine Food Pairing is to be enjoyed at ALL times. CHEERS!


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Wine Food Pairing - Weinbau in Gumpoldskirchen

Wine Food Pairing with Otmar Schnitzer in the village of Gumpoldskirchen Austria. Otmar's family owns and runs this this heuriger that is open 9 days, 6 times a year.

The family sells their own terrific wines and is known by all the locals for their quality......it was a tip from a friend that led us to this gem....and what a wonderful time we had!

We tasted a Rot Cuvee, a medium heavy red wine of mixed wine origin and a delicious Spatrot Rotgipfler that was similar in taste to a pinot grigio, light and dry!

To end the evening we paired a tasty cheese and fruit plate with Gstaubter, a fresh young wine that had not yet been filtered....one step beyond a "sturm"....sometimes referred to a "dusty" wine .... SUPER!!!!

Good food and friends, terrific wine....this is Wine Food Pairing!
CHEERS!

For more information on this terrific Weinbau, you can check out their website:

http://www.weinbau-schnitzer.at

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Wine Food Pairing - Traudl's Heuriger Burgenland


Wine Food Paring in Burgenland, one of the premier wine areas of Austria!

Traudl's Heuriger was the place to be........wonderful wines of the region and traditional food....enough for an army!

These two women make it all happen....Momma on the right, Traudl in the middle and yours truly on the left! I had to go in the kitchen for a quick visit. We couldn't make up our minds what we wanted to pair with our delicious blaufrankish, a delicious red wine, so Traudl served up a feast!

All this food for only three people and one small dog....OH BOY!!!! My favorite was the pork loin or maybe it was the fleischlabel (meat patties) .... anyway, the others loved the blood sausage, but somehow I just can't get excited about anything that has blood in the name. The Austrian potato salad and sauerkraut were yummy additions and, did I mention the SurSchnitzel? This particular schnitzel is "brined" a bit before being "schnitzeled" and has a pinkish cast to the meat...SUPER!

Traudls Heuriger also boasts quite an impressive menu of their own wines for sale. You can visit their website at:

http://www.Traudls-Heuriger.at

Wine Food Pairing should be fun! CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - A Dash of Italian Love!

Wine Food Pairing in Italy has been the best! It is time to head back to our home base of Austria, but before we cross the border....one last stop!

I see a little gasthaus by the side of the road and it looks promising for a bit of pasta. We enter the warmly decorated room....checkered table cloths, potted plants on the tables and a lighted candle in the center......perfecto!

The menu boasts all sorts of items, but I have heard that the best is just to ask the server for the "special" and be surprised. We begin with a terrific dry Italian red table wine and it pairs wonderfully with the hot crusty bread that is served with olive oil infused with garlic to "dip". YUM! We could stop right there, but there is more! A steaming bowl of minestrone soup comes next....WOW.....no one would ever confuse this with the canned variety!

Sipping our wine and enjoying life...nothing moves too fast here.....

The entree arrives and it is a ravioli pasta stuffed with a pumpkin mixture and topped with a light cream sauce.......garnished with a freshly grated Parmesan......wonderful! The food is made with the freshest ingredients, traditional dishes that I've never seen before........all with a dash of Italian love thrown in!

Dessert, yes they was more....was a creamy yogurt with black cherries....truly decadent!

No meal in Italy is complete without the after dinner cappuccino, the milk making frothy peaks and, of course, a grappa....strictly a digestive aid!

Wine Food Pairing in Italy.....it may begin as a "quick" lunch and end up as a days event! CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing ... Champagne and Church Bells!



Wine Food Pairing ...... a romantic morning sitting on the balcony enjoying the beautiful flowers and the magnificent Italian Alps!

The sound of church bells pealing throughout the village calling all the locals to worship on Sunday morning.

My husband and I are sipping a sparkling Italian wine and nibbling on a fresh....still warm from the oven chocolate croissant! A steamy cup of cappaccino on the side ..... the Italians make it so good with the frothy milk. YUM!!!!!!!

Need I say more about this Wine Food Pairing adventure?

Wine Food Pairing ..... "Wild" Italian experience!


Wine Food Pairing in Italy! We had an opportunity to have a "wild" experience this last weekend.

My husband and I drove down to SudTirol to visit a wonderful inn in Villabassa Italy.....this area was once part of Austria (before it was divided after WWII). The food and culture reflects both wonderful heritages.

Dinner, the first evening, our host explained to me was "Wild in a Merlot Sauce". When I got my translation, it seems that venison or game meat is called "wilde", thus the name.

The first course was an antipasta salad served with a crusty Italian bread. We decided that Merlot would be perfect to pair with the whole dinner and we were right! The full bodied Italian Merlot complimented the meaty salad as well as the delicious venison served in the rich wine sauce.

Dinner was a great experience with all the guests enjoying each others company....some physicians visiting from Germany kept us entertained by playing Beatles songs on the piano. Even though their English was limited they knew all the words to the songs! What an international experience!


By the time dessert arrived, a hot raspberry concoction served with vanilla ice cream, we had switched from the Merlot to Grappa....the favorite Italian schnapps! Needless to say language barriers were not in place by this time....my German always improves with alcohol usage! As the evening progressed, our host brought out his very special homemade schnapps that he puts together using blueberries....YIKES....it was good! We paired this with a cheese platter that is typical for the last course of any European meal.....WOW.....what a dining delight! This is Wine Food Pairing at its very best!

This terrific Wellness Inn is called the Hotel Emma and has a long history. The hotel itself is 450 years old....good thing the bathrooms have been renovated! For more information on this wonderful place you can go to their website: http://www.hotel-emma.it

Wine Food Pairing at a Traditional Austrian Wine House

What could be better than Wine Food Pairing at a traditional Austrian wine house, or a heurigan as they are called?

This particular heurigan offered all the best local wines as well as Sturm and Most which are only available for a short time each year. These last two favorites change daily as they continue to ferment....the Most turns into Sturm and then the Sturm turns into a full fledged wine...it is all a matter of fermentation!

Heurigans, by law are only open a few weeks each year and the vintners are allowed to sell a percentage of their wine tax free! In addition, the kitchen prepares all the traditional favorites. This one specialized in strudels....I had a savory potato strudel which had a flakey crust and was a hearty meal for a cool autumn evening! I paired this with one of the crisp "new" white wines....delish!

Austrian wine food pairing is an adventure indeed! CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing ... Oktoberfest Austria!

Wine Food Pairing at Oktoberfest in Austria!

The beer was flowing freely, the music was traditional and the crowd was doing the chicken dance....what more could you want?

A terrific local red wine....when asked what kind it was...they said just drink it...you'll love it! I did and they were right. I paired my wine with a wurst (sausage) of some sort and a crusty roll that the Europeans are famous for! YUM!

Once again, I have done my duty, Wine Food Pairing! CHEERS!