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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview with Maureen Petrosky
Aired May 26, 2002 - 09:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: For lots of people, summer holiday weekends mean it's time to fire up the grill and the music, and while many people equate barbecue with beer, well there's a lot of wines that really go well with grilled food also. Chef Sommelier Maureen Petrosky is here with some of them. Good morning.
MAUREEN PETROSKY, SOMMELIER: Good morning.
PHILLIPS: Not too early to drink wine, right?
PETROSKY: No, it's a holiday weekend.
PHILLIPS: Although, I'm just allowed to sniff until I'm off the air.
PETROSKY: Right. Good. Good idea.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about what's good with what. Let's say we're getting ready to barbecue. We're going to start with what? What do we have here?
PETROSKY: We've got Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc. When you're barbecuing, you're introducing a lot of foods at the table, so there's a lot of different wines that can go with that. We brought a variety today. I immediately say stay away from whimsy wines.
PHILLIPS: What's a whimsy wine.
PETROSKY: A whimsy wine is going to be something -
PHILLIPS: A wine in a box?
PETROSKY: -- that doesn't have a lot of fruit. Not necessarily.
PHILLIPS: OK.
PETROSKY: Wine in a box can tend to be, they're usually oft dry, a little sweet, a lot of fruit.
PHILLIPS: OK.
PETROSKY: Those pair great with grilled meats and grilled items because they tend to become dry then a little more succulent when you're preparing those. The Sauvignon Blanc has a lot of fruit in it and it's a high acidic wine, so that goes great.
Moving down the line, we've got a white Zinfandel, which kind of people think of as the wine in the box, but a lot of people drink it and there's a huge market for it. And like I said, it's a great -
PHILLIPS: My grandma drinks white Zinfandel.
PETROSKY: OK and there's nothing wrong with your grandma. You know, we don't want to alienate anybody, and I think a lot of people are afraid of wine because there's so much out there. So if you like white Zin you've got to start somewhere. White Zin brought back our Zinfandel, so we can all be thankful for that.
PHILLIPS: Oh, that's true. What does this go well with, white Zinfandel?
PETROSKY: White Zinfandel goes great again with barbecue sauces, the sweetness there. If you're having something really spicy, it's a nice balance, because it's a sweet wine.
PHILLIPS: All right.
PETROSKY: Now we're getting into the guys with guts here. We've got Mistral from Joseph Phelps. It's a nice blended red wine, again a lot of fruit. You want to look for a fruity red wine. Some red wines that are high in alcohol, like the cabernets are going to be a little too hot with your barbecue. Now if you like your food spicy, go for something big and high alcohol and red. When in doubt, go for red.
PHILLIPS: OK.
PETROSKY: We've got fruity reds. We've picked out the Zinfandel.
PHILLIPS: OK.
PETROSKY: Really jammy Zin.
PHILLIPS: What about this one, the Poet? I love the title.
PETROSKY: The Poet, now this is if you're going to have a little bit more of an intimate occasion, because this is a $65 bottle. If you're inviting your boss over, say for the picnic and you want to wow him.
PHILLIPS: $65.
PETROSKY: There you go. This is a beautiful bottle. This is a style wine. It's a blend again and blended wines tend to be very fruit friendly.
PHILLIPS: And, of course, champagne goes with everything.
PETROSKY: Well, if you're a bubble head like me.
PHILLIPS: I'm a bubble head, a big bubble head. PETROSKY: You want to be able to offer something for everybody, and depending on what part of the country you live in, if you're serving a lot of seafood, salads, oysters, this is a great bubbly with body that will go well with that.
PHILLIPS: I like that, very good. Yes, mom and I just got back from France and it was so nice not having wine with full face. We never got a headache.
PETROSKY: Different.
PHILLIPS: So you promise these won't give me a headache?
PETROSKY: I promise.
PHILLIPS: Good, I'll hold you to that. All right, Maureen thank you so much.
PETROSKY: Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: All right, great tips. There you go folks. There's all your choices for your barbecues. Forget the beer. Bring in the wine and here's your summer wine picks, all the best ones according to Maureen and we trust her, believe me.
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