- Publish Date: Jun 16, 2010
Spanish Wine and Swiss Cheese
The best things to consume during today's World Cup match.
In today's World Cup wine matchup, Spain takes on Switzerland.
Now, let's be honest: Spain is one of the favorites to win the tournament; and you're much better off buying a wine from the Iberian Peninsula than one from anywhere near Lake Geneva--if you can even find a Swiss wine, since not much is exported. On the pitch or in the wine shop, there's really no comparison between Spain and Switzerland.
However, if you see a reasonably priced Swiss wine in your local shop, we suggest you give it a shot. Why? Because we're totally bummed that Spain isn't fielding many World Cup players from wine regions. Really, they couldn't scrounge up just one player from Penedès?
The team really only has two flag-wavers for wine. The first is midfielder Andrés Iniesta, from Albacete in La Mancha, which is the largest wine region in the world (190,000 hectares planted). The reds are usually Tempranillo and Garnacha, and the major white grape, the native Airén, is often used to make Brandy. The squad also has Javier Martínez, who hails from Navarra, the Pyrenees-hugging region known for its high-quality, affordable reds made of Garnacha or Tempranillo.
Since Spain seemed to care more about winning the tournament than fielding players from wine regions, The Daily Sip is throwing its support behind Switzerland today. Granted, a Swiss wine might be hard to come by, so maybe we'll just enjoy some cheese while we watch the game. If we really need a wine to go with it, we'll pull a Spanish bottle off the rack--and hope for a tie game.
That said, if you have a great wine-cheese pairing, tell us about it here.
