September 2011

By Karen E. Hofreiter

Creating the perfect pairing is a lot like finding true love–you’re not going to find it if you’re looking for it. Even the most knowledgeable of chefs and sommeliers rely on luck and intuition to help them stumble across their most successful food and wine duets.

For Janet Webber, wine director at Hugo’s Restaurant on Middle Street, the secret is to keep an open mind. “About ten years ago, I was choosing a pairing for a duck consommé. I was all set to offer a traditional light red, so I wasn’t just surprised when a Burgundian chardonnay jumped out of nowhere and pronounced itself the best. I was floored. I can still taste it in my mind–10 years later.”

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