If breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day, than why not serve it with one of the most beautiful, complex, and timelessly beloved beverages… wine?

I raise my glass to those of you who need no excuse or special occasion to pair wine or Champagne with breakfast or Sunday brunch. Below you can find 12 wines that pair well, depending on what you will be serving. Relax, let your hair down, grab your favorite bathrobe and enjoy!

The 12 Most Breakfast Friendly Wines:

1. Rose Champagne or Sparkling Wine:  Cheers to all things bubbly at breakfast (with exception to that one overly chipper morning person). Rose Champagne and sparkling wine is one of the number one wines to pair with breakfast foods, both “demi-sec”, which means slightly sweet, or “brut”, which means dry. Don’t feel pressured to spend the money on true French Champagne when it comes to pairing bubbles with your brunch; sparkling wine is more affordable and may pair just as beautifully. Lobster, shrimp bacon and bagels with lox are just a few of the many foods that pair very well with pink bubbles.

2. Brut Champagne or Sparkling Wine: For those stubborn men who don’t realize that real men drink pink, brut (dry and white) bubbles pairs well with the foods listed above, and is a traditional brunch staple! When serving dry bubbles with breakfast, I recommend serving a cheese plate, which accompanies the bubbles quite well!

3. Demi-sec Champagne: Demi-sec bubbles scream crepes, waffles, pancakes, cheeses, fruit, and other slightly sweet brunch foods. It’s an easy-pleaser with most brunch guests, and rarely fails when your breakfast menu has a sweeter touch to it. 

4. Cremant de Alsace: while not a traditional Champagne, this French bubbly comes from Alsace, near the German border. It is made in the traditional French Champagne method, but instead of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, it’s made from Pinot Blanc grapes. This wine has ‘egg dish’ pairing written all over it! It is very affordable, and it pairs phenomenally well with poached eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets, fritatta and eggs Benedict.

5. Prosecco Mimosas: Nothing reminds us of brunch more than the delightful and traditional orange juice mimosa! A Mimosa is bubbly mixed with orange juice, served in a Champagne flute. Prosecco (a sparkling white wine produced in the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy) is a great sparkling wine to pair with oj. Mimosas are fun, easy, affordable and may appeal to the typically non-wine drinkers at the table. To add a hint of class and beauty to your mimosa, make a ‘mimosa sunrise’ by tilting the glass of prosecco and oj mix and gently pouring a half an ounce of grenadine in the flute

6. Moscato di Asti: Sweet and low in alcohol, this sparkling white wine is produced mainly in the province of Asti, north-west Italy. Due to it’s sweetness, it is an excellent wine for breakfast deserts such as pastries, cannoli, roasted pears, warm apple pie, crepes, cheese cake, and french toast drizzled in syrup and topped with powdered sugar and whipped cream! If you really want to milk the whole ‘wine with breakfast’ thing, skip syrup and drizzle iced wine over those french toast.

7. Iced Wine: Known in Germany as Eiswein, is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The process used to make ice wine results in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet, high alcohol wine. Given that iced wine is a desert wine, it pairs beautifully with all of the foods mentioned above recommended to pair with Moscato Di’ Asti, but I particularly enjoy iced wine with flan, cobblers, custards and strudel. You may also want to pour a little ice wine for your guests after breakfast has been cleared, and people are relaxing around the table, or even better, drizzle it over a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

8. German Riesling: There are many levels of sweetness to German Rieslings, I typically pair off dry rieslings (which say “Spatlese” on the label) with my brunches. This wine is versatile, and pairs beautifully with everything from softer cheeses, to bacon breakfast sandwiches, roasted duck, goose, other game animals, and seafood. Rieslings with a hint of sweet also pair extremely well with spicy dishes. If there is anything on your table with a touch of spice, this wine will prove to be a hit!

9. Sancerre: Sancerre is a wine growing region in the Eastern valley of the Loire valley in France, and is made from the grape varietal Sauvignon Blanc. It is an excellent wine for breakfast and brunch that is heavy on goat cheeses. Some other brunch foods that pair well with Sancerre are: deviled eggs, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, avocado, crab, shrimp, and prawns, and the special version of Eggs Benedict known as Eggs Hemingway, where the ham is replaced with salmon.

10. Sparkling Syrah: Yes, you read it right, Syrah with bubbles!  This is an amazingly unique wine, with plenty of conversation topic opportunities. Challenge your family and friends to close their eyes and guess what type of wine they are sipping on before revealing the wine. To wow your guests, this wine should be paired with heavier brunch foods, such as cream cheeses, meats, and salty fatty foods. It’s a perfect wine to pair with a cold snowy Winter brunch. Also, if your brunch has decadent chocolate cakes, or heavier deserts, this wine will shine!

11. Pinot Noir: Be it one from Burgundy France, California, or Oregon, for any salmon based brunch, a Pinot Noir on the table is a must. Most of us in the Pacific North West view salmon as a vital ingredient to any self respecting brunch, the way most Americans view sausage. For those of you who prefer the later to the former, the great news is that… Pinot Noir pairs excellent with sausage as well! Softer cream cheeses,  mushrooms, truffle oil, caramelized onions, and herbs also make Pinot Noir sing.

12. Belgium Beer: While obviously not a wine, Belgium beers pair so beautifully with brunch foods that it is well worth the mention. There are many different types of ales from Belgium, and it’s important to choose the correct style for the type of brunch you are preparing. One pairing that works beautifully, is Belgium waffles with Lambic or Framboise ale (and don’t forget to add beer to the waffle mix)! For nutty cheeses and potatoes, sip on white Belgium ales, and for heavier meat dishes, red or brown Belgium ales pair great!

While these are the wines that I like best with breakfast, don’t limit yourself- enjoy every and all type of wine and spirits, it’s so much fun to try new combinations. Whatever you chose to enjoy: Cheers to wine with breakfast, and to the lazy, completely unproductive Sunday afternoons that follow!

Please comment and share with me YOUR favorite breakfast wines!

All content written by Barbara Evans / Seattle Wine Gal

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In the way of quotes, this has Shakespeare beat!

Let’s have a little fun with crappy booze tattoos! Here are a few that I found amusing, ridiculous, and just plain goofy!

Beer Mug...shot. Serial Killing Beer Lover, guess we have 1 thing in common.

Wait... beer "before" breakfast? My tat would read "Beer FOR Breakfast"

Really? Salvation through Ranier Beer?

This dude's got his priorities straight. Who cares about a broken heart!

I hate when my pizza has icicles on it.

This is kinda bad ass actually.

Totally shitty tattoo

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Great Thanksgiving Wines under $25, Featured on King5 Seattle! [CLICK HERE to watch the video]

Out of all of the traditional wine and food pairings possible, Thanksgiving dinner holds some of the years truly greatest opportunities!

The most important thing to remember when pairing any wine with food, is not to over power the food, but rather compliment it with your wine choices. As I mentioned on King5 New Day Northwest (November 15th), the only real true rule in food and wine pairing is to make sure it’s wine and food that you like, and that YOU think works! It’s so much fun to try a little of this and a little of that to find the perfect pairing, so I recommend having quite a few different types of wine on your Thanksgiving Day table.

Here are the great wines I featured on the show, and a rough estimate of their prices. Enjoy, and please let me know how the wines worked with Thanksgiving dinner!

‘O’ Chardonnay ‘08  $13.99 

Chateau St. Michelle Riesling 2010 $9

King Estate Pinot Gris 2010 $15

Hard Roe to Hoe: Shameless Hussy Merlot ‘09 $25

Argyle Pinot Noir 2009 $25 

A to Z Pinot Noir 2009 $20

DeLille Cellars Harrison Hill Cabernet Blend 2006 $70

Dunham Three Legged Red 2009 $16

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The Old Hen B&B

CONGRATULATIONS to:  Cambrae Chipman, the winner of the SeattleWineGal, The Old Hen, and Walter Dacon Seattle Stay-cation Contest! Cambrae Chipman is welcome to invite her family and friends to a private wine tasting with SeattleWineGal and Walter Dacon Winery at the beautiful Old Hen B&B Nov 18th, with a gorgeous spread of appetizers by noted Pacific Northwest food blogger Deanna Morauski! After the tasting, she and a handful of her guests will enjoy the ENTIRE B&B for a luxury stay, with a gourmet breakfast the next morning. It doesn’t stop here folks- Walter Dacon Winery will be tossing in a collection of award winning wines for the winner of our contest and her guests. Thanks everyone for being involved, we appreciate the massive amount of buzz and excitement this has created! Please continue to follow and friend us, and keep your eye open for our next contest or event.   ~Barbara, Deanna, and Ann

How Did I Chose The Winner? Here are a few photos of the Eventbrite and Random.org selection process:

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Older Post…

SeattleWineGal, The Old Hen and Walter Dacon invite YOU to register to win a luxurious stay in the award winning The Old Hen B&B in gorgeous North Bend, WA Friday Nov 18th! Winner announced in the evening November 7th and contacted via email!

REGISTER HERE

WHAT:   The winner is awarded use of the entire The Old Hen Inn B&B for a one night stay (3 rooms)! Also included is:

• An evening wine tasting with SeattleWineGal and Walter Dacon’s owners and wine makers Lloyd and Ann Anderson!
• A few bottles of Walter Dacon’s top award winning wines to enjoy on your own!
• A full spread gourmet breakfast the next morning!

WHEN: November 18th. Guests may check in as early as 3pm. Private wine tasting with Seattle Wine Gal and Walter Dacon begins at 7pm, breakfast is 9am on Saturday, and check out is at 11am.

WHERE: The Old Hen Tucked in between the world-famous Snoqualmie Falls and Snoqualmie Pass and just one easy mile from I-90 is The Old Hen Bed and Breakfast.The Old Hen is a newly built inn that possesses the old-fashioned, elegant country beauty that you’ll love.   47150 SE 162nd Street North Bend, Washington 98045

WHO: We invite all adult Seattle area individuals to register for this contest. Winners will be able to welcome friends and family to join them for the evening in the other two guest rooms.

To Register:

1. You must live within 25 miles of Seattle, WA, or be able and willing to travel here.
2. You must either “like” The Old Hen, SeattleWineGal and Walter Dacon on Facebook &/OR  follow them on Twitter @SeattleWineGal @TheOldHen @WalterDacon

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Written by Seattle Wine Gal: Barbara Evans (@SeattleWineGal on Twitter)!

The pressure’s on! I get less than 5 minutes on national television to ‘plug’ the second largest producing wine state in the country. With 700+ wineries, and thousands of wines, this will be far from easy! It’s really quite an exciting opportunity however, and I look forward to being able to get people excited about our incredible juice!

Here’s the scoop folks…

I received an email last week inviting me to join Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on the TODAY Show Friday October 21st (the 10-11am segment). With a very short time-slot, I have been scrambling to figure out how to best represent Washington wine and wineries! I am hoping to get the opportunity to share a few important things about WA wine.

• Most people from out of state don’t know that if you hop across the Cascade Mt range outside of drizzly Seattle, they will be met with sunny-year-round, cloudless, semi-desert in the Eastern part of the state. The climate makes for STELLAR grape growing, and the latitude is similar to those of Northern European wine growing regions. Washington wine has been rated among the best in the world, and is known for big juicy reds!
• If I could emphasize anything about Washington wines, I would take out my megaphone and shout down from the mountain tops “Washington Wine is by Far The Best Bang for Your Buck”! Excellent Value Across all Price Points. WA State has so many awesome small production wineries. Many of  these little known houses produce wines that are extremely high quality, with far lower price points for the quality than California and European wine. This is awesome news for the consumer!
• Since 2005, there has been a string of excellent vintages, this current one being extremely noteworthy- Now is the perfect time to try WA wine!

It was tough trying to come up with 4 bottles of wine to represent all of WA wine. I wanted to represent a winery that told an incredible story, a small production winery in an up and coming wine growing region, and older more established ‘staple’ winery, and a winery that creates wines that are somewhat uncharacteristic of WA wine. Here are the wineries, and why I chose them.

‘O’ Chardonnay ‘08 $13.99 

Chardonnay absolutely shines in WA state. If you haven’t had Chardonnay outside of California, it should be on your to-do list! Most WA Chardonnay trades in those big buttery oaky characteristics that you see in CA Chard for a clean, crisp, lighter, more delicate wine.

O Wines was founded in 2006 by Stacy Lill and Kathy Johanson. Proudly Women owned and operated, O Wines is a non-profit winery (100%) donated to fund school scholarships for low-income high potential youth. Click HERE to order this wine! And HERE to learn more about their great cause!

Gramercy Cellars ‘Third Man’ 2009 GMS (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre) $45 

One type of wine that can be left highly under-rated are blends! WA state has created some of the most beautiful Grenache blends, which is a grape that originates from France, but grows spectacularly here in WA. I would stress to TODAY viewers to not shy away from blends, seeing them as lower quality. On the contrary, they are some of the most well made wines in the world!

A Walla Walla winery (say that 10 times fast), Gramercy Cellars deliberately avoids making big fruity wines and instead strives to create elegant restrained and un-manipulated food focused wines. Gramercy’s GSM is a superb example of where Rhone (France) style blends in Washington state are, and should be, headed. It is a blend of the following grapes: 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 20% Mourvedre (pronounced ‘moo-ved’). Click HERE to order this wine!

Hard Roe to Hoe: Shameless Hussy Merlot ‘09 $25

Merlot is one of WA most beautiful wines in my opinion (my very favorite in fact), and it is also one of the top 3 most widely produced in the state. Washington Merlot is far from wussy, and drinks nothing like a California or Bordeaux Merlot. Rich in cherry and berry flavor, they are big bold fruity wines, and in my opinion absolutely scrumptious! Step aside Sideways, Merlot is here to stay and will not take back seat!

This particular Merlot comes from an increasingly noteworthy wine region in Washington state- Lake Chelan. Most wines from Washington come from Yakima, Coulmbia Valley and Walla Walla, but here is one winery that produces extremely amazing wines, quite far from the major grape growing region. Wine makers Don and Judy Phelps are the perfect example of our states small family owned wineries. They are hard working, loving, funny, and passionate about what they do. It’s easy to support local family owned wineries when the family is as wonderful as this one! Click HERE to order this wine!

L’Ecole No. 41 Syrah 2008 $25

Ahhh… Washington Syrah, how I love the!  Ever so dark, rich and concentrated, with smells and tastes of black berries, tobacco, leather, and coffee.

What a unique winery, with amazing award winning wines! Situated in a little school house in Walla Walla Wa, this winery is staffed with super nice people, who pour seemingly endless samples of top-notch, very highly rated, yet affordable wines. One of my all time WA favorites and “go-to’s”, L’Ecole N°41 is one of Washingtons oldest ‘staple’ wineries. Order this wine HERE.

It is so sad to me that I can’t bring more wines with me. Washington has so very many incredible wineries that I’d love to introduce you to. If you are from WA, or know our wines, please feel free to list your favorites in the comments; if you aren’t from here, list wines I should try from your neck of the woods!

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Peppermint patty cheesecake simply doesn’t go well with wine- don’t do it.

I see much discussion of what wines to pair with what foods, and what works with what. What about foods that should never, or rarely be paired with wine? While some chefs love the challenge, the fact remains that not all foods pair well with wine. Lets get real here; there are chemical compounds found in certain foods that make them very tough to pair, while others just simply pose a challenge, and are better left to be paired with PBR or a good mug of Alabama bath-tub moonshine.

Wine should be respected, and so should food, and therefore they should each be served with something that compliments rather than detracts or downright disgustifies. [Leave me alone- this is a post about poor food and wine pairs, not poor grammar and made up words].  :-)

So what are some foods to avoid while preparing that home cooked wine dinner for your new boss or your first date with that cutie that you’ve been eyeing for 2 years?….

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If you aren’t on Twitter: 1. This blog post won’t make a lick of sense. 2. What on earth are you waiting for?

#WIYG RT @BlackPearlSEA: Drinking Ali Sangiovese at Machiavelli's with @tarynmiller @wawinereport http://twitpic.com/323akj

I am writing this post to THANK everyone on Twitter that has and is supporting the hashtag #WIYG.

Some basic definitions for the non twits:

Twitter: Twitter is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read other users’ messages called tweets.

Hashtag: In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file). This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. …

Support: to maintain (a person, family, establishment, institution, etc.) by supplying with things necessary to existence; provide for: to support a family.

I created #WIYG almost a year ago as a joke, and to make slight fun of the many Acronyms we see in the social spaces:

IRL, BRB, LOL, BFF, LMAO, FB, FTF, IMHO, LMK, OMG, OMFG, TMI, WTF etc etc.

I was a few glasses of wine in when I tweeted something like this: “Hey folks What’s In Your Glass? Tweet me pics and I’ll RT”. What happened next was shocking. I received about 50 pics over the course of a few hours. The RT’s I had to ‘stay on top of’ were almost unmanageable. I knew that this was something that people wanted more of, so I began making it a Friday night regular occurrence. When I search the hashtag now, I see that I’m not even included in many of the tweets today. People have taken the tag and ran with it. Thanks everyone, so very much for helping make it a success. What fun!

Below are some examples of recent #WIYG tweets. Feel free to tweet #WIYG picks anytime, with or without @ messaging me. If you include me, I will do my best to RT the pic to my followers.

@WineSoiree: #wiyg. Getting ready for my travels to #wawine

@Clivity #WIYG a 2007 Red Mtn. Cabernet from @WardJohnsonWine I do believe this is @KionaWine fruit, Ranch at the End of the Road. #wawine

@RMalayeri Relaxing with a glass of wine with @ranajune @ChrisPirillo @HipsForHire after an amazing #MagicEve #WIYG

@m3sweatt @seattlewinegal tonite, after dealing with traffic for nearly an hour, it’s a 2005 Hogue Genesis Columbia Valley Merlot #wiyg

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