the ZiNG! thing
FOOD. WINE. WONDER.
What a magical world we live in. At every dinner or celebration where we enjoy wine and food, there is a chance to experience ‘a ZiNG! thing‘, that magic moment when wine and food come together and just….wow. As Aristotle put it, when ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.
People, food, wine — we’re all a mélange of chemicals. In moments of nirvana between the two, we don’t think about science! We think wonder, deliciousness, excitement. Our entire experience however, is choreographed by chemistry. That’s what interests us here.
When you set out in search of an epic food and wine pairing, things can become daunting. So many wines! So much amazing food! What’s going to be best together?
This is where we can help you. We have a system to simplify the crazy food and wine pairing conundrum.
‘the ZiNG! thing’ sounds odd (!) but it is a pretty serious understanding of how food and wine interact. The trick is getting the right things together the right way and we can show you how to do that.
Have a look here at an article in ‘The Oregonian’ a few years ago by the wonderful Katherine Cole:
ZiNG! Wine Pairing Method
A friend of mine in Charleston once referred to the ZiNG! thing as an ‘elevated experience’. I loved that idea then and I would love to take you there now.
Let me show you.
HELLO!
Many moons ago… before co-owning a winery in Oregon, before working for an International Fine Wine importer and distributor, in the beginning, I worked in restaurants.
I waited tables. I managed the cocktail bar, the wine bar, the dining room. I ran food from the kitchen. I loved it all. Everywhere, we were tasked to bring our guests the best experience possible, which included getting the right wines with the right foods. This part really got my attention. I went on a mission, digging up as much intel on ‘wine and food together’ as I could.
I found lots of try this with suggestions but not nearly enough why this with reasons.
I have a background in analytical chemistry (University College Dublin, U of I, DKIT) and I felt a need for the security of science to answer the questions we were asking. I wanted to understand why some combinations soared while others crashed and burned. I wanted to learn for our staff, our guests. That way we could do it successfully over and over again, right?
WE NEEDED A ROADMAP TO BRING FOOD AND WINE TOGETHER, TO FIND THE MAGIC.
Chemistry doesn’t have an opinion. It has reasons. You can have confidence in it. So we started looking for those food and wine reasons and wow, have we found some great ones along the way.
I am humbled to have unflagging support from Drs. Joyce and Tom Hurley (University of Indiana and Stark Neuroscience Institute). These guys are beyond brilliant. I have amazing winemaker friends in Oregon and California who have been selfless with time and input and I also have many beloved sommelier pals who debate, argue, agree and then debate some more…it’s a somm. thing. I love you all for it!
I have written two books so far sharing what we’ve uncovered and discovered. We have developed an experiential workshop which allows you taste and feel the food and wine interactions for yourself, and we are in the process of creating an online training program where we show you the map too.
WHO KNEW CHEMISTRY COULD BE SUCH FUN?
WINE AND FOOD. FOOD AND WINE. WONDERFUL.
Click on image to enlarge
THINKING FROM THE INSIDE OUT
This info-graphic image is a crayon sketch of what happens as we taste, eat, drink.
… and this guy that looks like an unravelling ball of wool is actually a REALLY important player in food and wine chemistry. This is AMYLASE, a dietary enzyme (hi amylase). We talk a lot about amylase in the workshop we have developed.
Knowing how digestive efficiency may be enhanced by pH dramatically affects successful wine choices with certain foods. Sometimes when I explain this people will say ‘OH! I knew that!’ because instinctively, you do! As Dr. Joyce says ‘we are hardwired to most of these responses’ – and that’s how our instincts help us along. It’s super interesting stuff, I love telling people about it.
Getting it together
The ZiNG! thing ‘Food & Wine Synergy Workshop’ is the real deal.
You get to see, taste and feel everything we’ve worked on in reality.
It is an eye-opener for many and has been called a game changer.
BOTH BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!
Buy this book by clicking on the Amazon link below.
‘The ZiNG! Thing Revised 2023’ will be available early in 2024!
Buy this book by clicking on the Amazon link below.
Testimonials
Things People say..
Gerard Basset
MS, MW, MBA, OIV, OBE
“Trish, Thank you so much for yesterday. I greatly enjoyed your brilliant presentation. It was extremely informative and great fun. It was wonderful to meet you.”
Sue Kim Drohomyrecky
Tykhe Group Hospitality, Austin TX
“ZiNG! is an epiphany…what the pursuit of ‘better’ in life is all about. It has profoundly changed how I approach what I eat and drink together and I am always inspired by how much pleasure I derive from this simple process. You just gotta do it.”
★★★★★
