CHAMPAIGN — Thad Morrow, owner of Ladro Enoteca, an intimate wine shop in downtown Champaign, knows a thing or two about pairing food and wine. He is both a formally trained chef and a certified sommelier, so who better to chat with to continue our wine education?
Even if you don’t know him by name, you probably know his food. Thad was the chef/owner of Bacaro, an iconic downtown Champaign restaurant, for many years. After selling Bacaro, he left town for a bit, working in New York City as the wine director for Blue Apron. More recently, he was involved with Naya in Campustown before opening his own shop. This diversity of experience uniquely positions him to give us, dear readers, some insight into choosing wine to go with the food we’re eating. And spoiler alert: it’s not as complicated or intimidating as one might think!
Once upon a time, there seemed to be a lot of rules about what types of wine we should and shouldn’t be drinking with our food. But that is simply not the case.
“People overly complicate the wine world,” Morrow opines. “They also have overly complicated the food world for that matter, but are there great, or very good, food and wine pairings? Yes. Are there things that maybe just probably do not go together? Probably.
“But if you like them together, then it doesn’t really matter,” he says adamantly. “I don’t think there should be any rules.”
That being said, if you are looking for a certain flavor experience, Thad does have a bit of advice. When pairing wine, you want to take into consideration how the main dish is flavored. What kind of spices or sauce are you going to put on it? Those flavors are what should influence your choice of wine, he says. This is where the help of a knowledgeable wine merchant comes into play. Once you know what you’re having for dinner, hit up your favorite local wine seller and ask them for advice.
And if you want to learn more about wine without fear of buying a bottle only to find out you hate it, wine tastings are your friend. Many local wine shops host them, including Ladro Enoteca.
“Go to as many tastings as you can,” Thad says. “Even if you don’t think you’re going to like the wines at the tasting, go anyway. Taste all the wines. It starts to get your palate calibrated to the wine world.”
This also allows you to have one-on-one conversations with people who are wine experts.
And, he adds, “You should never feel embarrassed to say ‘I like this.’” He sees the hesitancy of people coming into his shop, and he wants them to know there is no judgment.
“I don’t care what you like; as long as you’re drinking wine, I’m a happy guy,” he says. “We can use that as a jumping-off point. You should never be intimidated to tell people what you like or be embarrassed that ‘I like sweet wine’ or ‘I like this wine,’ or whatever.”
“I mean, the idea is that you’re having a good time with your friends or family,” he says. “That’s what food and wine is supposed to be about.”
