04 Sep Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Pairing Wine with Potato Chips

Who does not love the salty, crunchy taste of potato chips? Potato chips are the ultimate snack food but did you know that they can also pair with wine! Champagne lovers know how delicious the wine is with French fries or potato chips but other wines actually pair with different flavors of chips. That is why pairing wine with potato chips is the Please The Palate pick of the week. If wine and chips seem like an unusual combo, think again. Potato chips have all the components to pair well with wine. Wine is acidic and chips are salty, which create a contrast pairing. Then add the flavors, such as bbq or sour cream and onion, and that is where the fun starts. I first tried potato chips paired with wine at Silver Trident Winery in Napa Valley. Winery founder Bob Binder was enjoying potato chips with a glass of wine on a flight when he came up with the idea to offer a potato chip and wine pairing. The Silver Trident team sampled numerous brands and flavors of potato chips to find the perfect pairing for their Potato Chip Extravaganza. That inspired a recent private event that I hosted in which we paired four wines and four different flavors of chips. Domaine Carneros 2016 Brut, Carneros was paired with Ruffles Classic Potato Chips Why does sparkling wine taste so good with potato chips? Classic potato chips show off the the potato’s earthy flavor and salt. It is the salt and fat of the chips that match perfectly with the crisp acidity of a dry sparkling wine. Pedroncelli 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley was paired with Kettle Chips Salt & Vinegar Chips Tanginess loves tanginess. The Pedroncelli Sauvignon Blanc has bright fruit and citrus aromatics and can hold its own against Salt & Vinegar chips. The high acidity of the wine was tempered by the chips while at the same time that high acidity mellowed the vinegar flavors. Acquiesce 2019 Grenache Blanc, Lodi, was paired with Maui Onion Chips Full bodied but vibrant with apple and stone fruit notes, the Acquiesce Grenache Blanc has the body and acidity to cut through the richness of the Sour Cream and Onion Chips. Pedroncelli 2019 Sangiovese Alto Vineyards, Dry Creek Valley was paired with Kettle Chips Barbeque Chips Barbecue chips get their flavor from ingredients such as honey powder, onion powder, garlic powder, hickory smoke powder, barley malt powder, and tomato powder. This means that there is a lot of sugar in the barbecue flavor and that means you need a fruity wine with soft tannins. That is why the Pedroncelli Sangiovese, with pretty notes of red berries, plum, and spice, fresh acidity, and soft tannins pairs so well with Barbecue chips. Pairing food and wine does not have to be complicated or stuffy. Pairing food and wine should be fun so next time you open a bottle of wine, try pairing it with potato chips.