CRESTVIEW — A local shopkeeper is pairing two beverages with perhaps surprisingly similar properties.
That’s not to say Baron’sTea.com’s owner Erica Teets actually mixes wine with her classic and seasonal tea blends. But she finds the similarities between tea leaves and wine grapes interesting.
It’s so interesting to her that, in October 2015, she started hosting monthly wine tastings at the former tea parlor with certified sommelier Nieves Pascual Ena.
“Wine and tea have similarities because of the tannins (bitter-tasting organic substances) in them,” Teets said. “When you pair the wine with food, there are all these things that occur that our sommelier talks about: how the tannins in the wine complement different food. It’s kind of the same with tea.”
Phytochemicals — natural compounds in plants that affect their color, aroma and taste — also affect our perception of how different foods taste when we couple them with wine and tea, Teets said.
“We’re trying to teach people that pairing the right wine with the right food maximizes the taste of each,” Pascual Ena said. “This is educational. We’re not selling wine or representing distributors.”
WINE LOVES CHOCOLATE
For The Baron’s Valentine’s Day weekend tasting, Pascual Ena has been playing matchmaker between select wines and gourmet chocolates.
Sampling fare can also include select fruit, cheeses, meats and smoked salmon, she said.
“I’m constantly thinking, 'This might go well with that,'” Pascual Ena said. “There is a lot of work involved but I love what I do.”
One thing attendees at the Feb. 12 event won’t know at first is which wines they’re sampling, though the sommelier will explain the covered bottles’ different properties.
“When you do a professional wine tasting, the bottles are covered so you are not guided by the label,” she said. “Other wine tastings are sponsored by a distributor, so they’re going to try to sell you that. Ours are completely educational.”
LIKE TEA, LIKE WINE
Although tea leaves are the basic part of tea, and grapes are the basic part of wine, both plants have many varieties, Teets said. Those variations make for different flavors and characteristics.
“They produce similar things but there is so much complexity to each one,” she said.
There’s too much complexity for her, so though there is the tea equivalent of a wine sommelier, but "that’s not me,” Teets said, laughing.
“There are people who are getting into a new craft, pairing tea with food,” she said. “Just like with wine, in the tea industry there are people who study teas. But I’m not certified.”
But Teets, who has lectured on tea's properties and culture, will gladly share her expertise, and offers samplings at her Ferdon Boulevard shop.
“All of the phytochemicals in tea — and each type has a different range — that’s what makes teas taste different,” she said.
“It’s like different wines have different types of grape.”
Nieves Pascual Ena is a wine authority who is internationally certified in Berlucchi, Italy through the Associazione Italiana Sommelier.
“We teach people to pair the right wine with the right food. That’s what a sommelier does,” she said. “If you go to a good restaurant, the sommelier wants to make sure you choose the right wine to go with your food.
“I have the best job in the world. I love it.”
WHAT IS A SOMMELIER?
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview tea shop finds similarities in traditional beverages (PHOTOS)