There’s no overstating how much the right wine pairing can elevate a meal. A good pairing can help cleanse your palate, enhance the flavors of a dish, or balance out some of the more rich or overpowering flavors. A good wine pairing is important at any dinner, but especially at a celebration.
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New Year’s Eve is a spectacular celebration of one year and a welcoming of the next, with top-quality drinks paired with delicious food. We came up with a selection of sparkling wines made here in the West that are a perfect way to get your year off to an effervescent start.
Our selection includes a variety of sparkling wines, from dry sparkling whites to fruity rosés to smooth sparkling reds. We’ve taken a few of those wines and paired them here with some of our favorite recipes, so you can impress this New Year’s Eve with a new wine beautifully paired with a delicious dish. And we have pairings for all tastes.
For a lighter appetizer, serve a sparkling rosé with chilled pasta and smoked salmon. Or, you can step away from typical New Year’s wines and pair a sparkling red with a serving of creamy deviled eggs. If you’re looking to stay traditional with your wine, the classic dry sparkling wine goes nicely with a well-seasoned, well-roasted tenderloin.
Whatever your tastes, once you’ve found your pairing, enjoy the festivities of the evening and enjoy how much the pairing enhances your dish. Check out some of our recommendations for bubbly-dish pairings below.
Winning New Year’s Eve Pairings
Caraccioli Cellars Brut Cuvee with Crab Bisque
Caraccioli’s brut has notes of lemon, apple, vanilla, and honeycomb that give the wine a simultaneous creaminess and acidity. This combination makes it a perfect pairing for a rich crab bisque, enhancing the soup’s creaminess while also balancing it with a bit of acid.
Carboniste Gomes Vineyard 2019 Sparkling Albarino with Spanish Octopus, Fingerling Potatoes, Saffron Aioli & Frisée
Carboniste’s 2019 Sparkling Albariño has notes of gooseberry and kumquat. Its light and fresh taste make it an ideal counterpart for the rich flavors of this combination of octopus, potatoes, and aioli. Plus, the wine has an octopus on the label, so how could we not pair these together?
Old World 2018 Early Harvest Abouriou Co-Ferment Sparkling Red with Chorizo Deviled Eggs
Old World’s sparkling red has lively fruit flavors balanced out by a subtle acidity and tart, dry finish. This makes it the ideal pairing for these deviled eggs, a classic dish with a great balance of smooth, creamy egg and spicy, crispy fried chorizo.
Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs with Rosemary and Garlic-Roasted Pork Tenderloin
The Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs is a classic dry sparkling wine, exactly the type you would expect to be drinking on New Year’s Eve. This fruitful bubbly pairs beautifully with the simple but delicious flavors of the rosemary and garlic-roasted pork tenderloin, itself a great entrée for the holiday.
Hammerling Co. 2019 Sunflower Sutra with Seared Scallops and Garlic-Parsley Butter
Hammerling’s 2019 Sunflower Sutra is a leaner wine, with bright notes of zesty lemon. That flavor and the wine’s natural acidity make it an ideal pairing for this scallop dish. The garlic-parsley butter is delicious without being overly complex and heightens the natural flavor of the scallops.
Poe 2017 van der Kamp Sparkling Pinot Meunier Rosé with Chilled Smoked Salmon Spaghetti, Capers, and Avocado
This pairing is all about lightness. Poe’s sparkling rosé is full of fruit flavors backed by hints of spice and a lively acidity. The pasta expertly combines salmon with the creaminess of avocado and the saltiness of capers. This pairing will make you feel merry and bright, even on the darkest winter nights.
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