Q&A: What wine pairs best with popcorn at a Winnipeg movie theatre?

As more and more Winnipeg movie theatres offer movie-goers the option to order libations along with popcorn and candies, we got to wondering, what wine goes best with Milk Duds?

And really, who would know better than Christopher Sprague, sommelier at 529 Wellington.

Sprague sat down with 680 CJOB’s Geoff Currier to discuss the finer points of wining and dining in front of the big screen.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Geoff: So you go to a movie theatre now and now you can get a glass of wine.

Christopher: It’s an amazing thing.

Geoff: If I get myself a little bag of popcorn and butter or golden topping — or another fine petroleum product — on top of my popcorn, should I be drinking wine with popcorn?

Christopher: Oh, I think it works really, really well. There’s a couple of elements in there that make wine taste better. Salt is one of the major factors, salt and wine actually interact really, really well together.

Geoff: Which is wine and cheese, right?

Christopher: Exactly, and if you think about the other factor, the big taste that’s in cheese is actually the fat. So that petroleum product or the real butter you put on, it helps with the wine. Very, very much so.

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Geoff: So popcorn is a good mix with wine?

Christopher: One hundred per cent. It can handle great white wines, really rich, full-bodied white wines. It can handle very clean, fresh white wines like you see on the Pinot Grigio kind of spectrum. And it can handle red and dessert wine. Potato chips are the same thing, they work incredibly well with wine too.

Geoff: So a good full-bodied white or a kind of a cleansing red? A lighter red would be better with popcorn?

Christopher: Yeah, if you’re going to go to the red side, you want to do something that doesn’t have lots of tannins. Think about red wine coming from a cooler country. Canada grows great lighter red wines, you know, places that you think, like Oregon and Washington, like cooler climates, northern France, northern Italy. All these will be a lighter style of red wine that could handle popcorn much better.

Geoff: OK. We’ve got a package of Starburst Minis and a package of Maltesers.

Christopher: The Maltesers would be great with wine because chocolate is very, very good with wine because it has a little bit of salt in it, but it has tannins itself. And it has a lot of notes that you would find in deeper red wines. Cabernet Sauvignon can be a little bit chocolaty and Merlot can go that way as well.

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Christopher: The Starburst would be much better with a very clean white wine that’s quite light and refreshing. And maybe like a Sauvignon Blanc — you want a little bit of fruit flavors.

Geoff: OK, so the sugared candies that are a little bit tougher, I mean, licorice or these Starburst Minis, that kind of stuff, where there’s a lot of sugar.

Christopher: When you’re matching sweetness with wine, the real rule of thumb is that the wine has to be sweeter than the actual food you’re eating.

Geoff: That’s gonna be a challenge with the Starburst Minis.

Christopher: A nice port might get there, or an ice wine might work really well.

Geoff: So we also have Milk Duds.

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Christopher: Mintiness might be a little bit of an interesting play with the wine as well, because you can get minty flavors, especially from Cabernets and Shiraz from Australia. So, again, it’s one of those where we’re trying to match like flavors. So Milk Duds just might work.

Geoff: OK we’re not suggesting you go to see Cats because evidently the reviews, the reviews ain’t good, but you can drink wine with popcorn and a good full-bodied white or a lighter red, generally.

Christopher: It might improve the movie.

Geoff: Christopher, this has been fun, thanks a lot for doing this today.

Christopher: Great pleasure.

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