Still or Sparkling Wine Pairing's Bubbly Friend BY BLAZE BERNSTEIN PHOTO BY CAROLINA SALAZAR-PARANHOS ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDWARD KIM The love story of food and wine is a tale as old as time. Residents of the culinary world often attempt to do away with wine pairing for trendier concepts using craft cocktails and beers, but such pairings have long been futile, lacking the special romance food and wine share. That is, until now. Since the start of the decade, sparkling 60
penn appétit
seltzer water has undergone a remarkable renaissance. The boring, plain seltzer of yore has been updated to feature distinct flavors and unique levels of fizziness. No longer is seltzer restricted to vodka soda; it has a place at the dinner table as well, right where your wine glass used to be. As a connoisseur of seltzer (having tasted over 70 varieties), I am very familiar with the rights and wrongs of picking out sparkling
water, and my carefully refined palette has been trained to match individual seltzers with specific foods and flavors. Here, you can find a not-so-definitive pairing guide to choosing the perfect sparkling water for every course of your meal. So, the next time you’re out grocery shopping for your fancy dinner party, don’t forget to grab a few extra bottles of “bubbly” for the guests.