McDonald's Wine Pairings
So what could be better than a Big Mac? A Big Mac and a glass of wine! Well, we can try to take mere takeout and transform it into a meal (or at least we can tell ourselves that). Seriously, what's wrong with pairing wine with some Mickey D's, especially in the summer when grabbing a snack to go sit in the park or at the beach is just so damn convenient?
We're not talking haute cuisine — got that — but there are wines that will pair well with your basic McDonalds menu items.
Or are there? We find out so you don't have to! Check out the whole story for all the sordid details!
So here is our first installment of Which Wine/Fast Food version 2.0, a look at America's convenience foods and wines they pair with, or don't!
For this exercise we've chosen a typical sampling from a McDonald's menu and paired them with a representative selection of wines that form a reasonable range of wines that one might expect to pair with food that come in cardboard boats, so don't expect any first growths here. For our wine lineup we chose the following wines:
2010 Avalon Sauvignon Blanc from California — A fairly typical fresh, easy style of white wine.
2009 Spice Route Chenin Blanc from South Africa — A noticeable oaky style of wine that's based on fruity and fresh Chenin Blanc so it has less weight than most Chardionnays.
NV Voveti Prosecco from Italy — A typical, dry style of sparkling wine.
2010 Atazuri Garnacha Rosé from Spain — A nice middle of the road rosé with good fruit and nice fresh balance.
2009 Bertani Valpolicella from Italy — A lighter style of red with modest tannins and refreshing acidity.
2010 Trapiche Malbec from Argentina — A gently oaked mid-bodied wine that offers a nice balance of fruit and oak.
2008 Red Rock Merlot Reserve from California — A bigger scaled fruity red, though this one combines fruit and a nice savory element with noticeable oak.
And what did we order from McDonald's you ask? Well how about a Filet-O-Fish, Chicken McNuggets, Grilled Chicken Ranch BLT sandwich, a Big Mac, an Angus Deluxe and the remarkable array of nine, yes nine, dipping sauces for the McNuggets and of course fries, lots of fries.
As you can see, we had our hands full with this task, and to tell you the truth, some of the results even surprised me! I skipped trying to pair the wines with each of the dipping sauces (most are simply too sweet to pair well with dry wines anyway), though the Creamy Ranch Sauce is the best bet for a wine pairing since it lacks the sugar of most and the acid of the Buffalo Sauce.
Check out how the pairings went and what were the clear winners for each menu item!
—Gregory Dal Piaz