Disclosure: this post is sponsored by Gallo Family Vineyards, and I am compensated as part of the Mom It Forward blogger network. All photos and opinions are my own.
As you all know we are blended culturally and while I love making all sorts of foods the family loves when I make Mexican food the best. As much as I love cooking and food I love pairing wine with great food. There are many various wines that pair with spicy foods but none do it as well as Gallo Family Vineyards’ Hearty Burgundy, at least in my opinion.
I was recently given the opportunity to create a wine pairing to help celebrate Gallo Family Vineyard’s 50th anniversary of its iconic red blend, Hearty Burgundy.Winemakers Ernest and Julio Gallo first introduced this red blend in 1964. It’s a fuller medium-bodied blend, comprised of delicious dark berry and plum notes. Burgundy wines for me are usually too hearty and I have a hard time with them but I must say this was the perfect blend, not too fruity but not too hearty (for lack of a better word.)
The Gallo brothers loved how this blend reminded them of the wines they would enjoy in Italy at meal times surrounded by family. I could not only see that but taste it as well. There is something about this particular wine that brings to mind a large table full of people talking, laughing, and enjoying great food. So I knew that my Spicy Mexican Salad would be perfect. Typically you pair a dark, hearty wine with rich foods and not necessarily a salad. However because this salad is spicy it really helps bring the boldness out of the wine.
This wine was wonderful with this salad (recipe at the bottom) and the salad is very easy to make. If you make a day ahead of time it gets better! My family really enjoyed the entire experience with the Hearty Burgundy. We had a wonderful simple meal around the table and ended up sitting there talking longer after the kids had left the table and the meal was over. The special 1.5 L bottle makes this the perfect wine for entertaining.
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Just an FYI–if you don’t have a corkscrew (I couldn’t find mine) you can use a long screw, screwdriver, and pliers to open your wine. Simply take the screwdriver and twist the screw into the cork. Then when it is down far enough, use the pliers to pull the screw and uncork. You can get to know the Gallo Family Vineyards as well as follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
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I don’t always pair a wine with what the experts say either. I think the wine sounds really good. I like a burgundy once in a while so I will have to look for this one. Your Spicy Mexican Salad sounds and looks great! Perfect for this summer when I don’t really want to cook a big meal. Thanks for the recipe!
This is really a great wine and it goes well with the salad.
I love pairing food with wine, but I enjoy white wine instead of the red, thank you for the great recipe it looks so good and I would never of thought to use a screw when I didn’t have a cork screw..great idea!
I didn’t know what else to do to get it opened! I know prefer white but you should really give this wine a try it will surprise you. I am the same I prefer white over red but this is one of the best red wines I have ever tasted.
I like to drink wine but it always gives me a headache. I’ve heard that better wines are not supposed to do that but I never try out of fear of getting a headache. Your salad looks delicious.
The salad is good. Wonder why you get a headache? I have never heard that about better wines but maybe give it a try.
Spicy Mexican Salad sounds awesome! I would use some pita chips or tortilla chips for dipping. Awesome flavor in this!
I love red wine, although I haven’t had it in sooo long! I never tried pairing it with Mexican, but that is a good reason to buy some red wine and make some Mexican dishes and try it! This looks delish and very inspiring!
I love to try new foods and wine match ups. It amazes me what goes great together.
I am not that good with picking out the right wines but I do enjoy a good glass of wine with my meal 🙂 and this sounds just yummy to me 🙂
I love the recipe- it sounds amazing!
I will have to try making this. Me and my grandmother in law are always looking for new recipes to work on together. We take turns making dinner, and we both love mexican food so this works out perfectly 🙂
Thank you for the recommendation. I like a glass of red with dinner and we often eat spicy foods. That salad looks out of this world, too!
I’m not a red wine fan for the most part but I do enjoy it with food. I think this Burgundy might be something my husband and I both like – he’s the red fan and I’m the white fan. My family doesn’t do much mexican food but I wonder if this might work with italian (like spaghetti).
I just looked at a recipe because I’ve really wanted a good Mexican salad and the only way I’ll get one is to make it myself. Thanks!
I’m not much of a wine drinker so I’m actually surprised that wine is even paired with spicy foods! I do love spicy foods though so I wonder if I’d like wine with it… Hmmm.
P.S. That Mexican salad looks AMAZING. I’m totally pinning it for later! lol
This sounds absolutely divine! Thank you very much!
I never have been able to pair wines with foods, so I never have tried, and I didn’t want to ask anyone, kind of embarrassing, when you don’t really know what you’re talking about. But I am very happy that I found this recipe and your recommendation. Thank you
Paula, truthfully I am not the best at it. It is more of a trial and error with me. In the end I realized that guests don’t care once they start drinking.