Let me just get this out of the way – I’m not a wine connoisseur. I like what I like. I know when a wine goes well with a meal and I definitely know when it doesn’t. But I don’t know the ins and outs of why. I give only a little attention to what the tasting notes tell me I should be picking up on when I drink a wine because a winemaker once told me: “What if you’ve never had a blackberry? Are you going to enjoy the wine any less just because you don’t have that taste-memory frame of reference? No!” I recently tried three California wines from Riboli Family Wines though, that turned out to be so “flexible” for food and wine pairing, both as holiday wines and any time of year, that I’m giving them as gifts and keeping them on hand at home for our own enjoyment. Added perk? They are each less than $30. 

Pin this article to Pinterest to keep the names of these wines handy.

First, a little bit about Riboli Family Wines:

A fourth generation family business, it began in 1917 in downtown Los Angeles. The Riboli family is extremely involved in, and passionate about, every aspect of the business. With vineyards in Napa Valley, Monterey, and Paso Robles, they are true California winemakers. You can learn more about their wine-making process, including their commitment to sustainability here, on their website.

And now, onto the food and wine pairing we did at home:

San Simeon – Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 
The technical notes say: “On the palate, you will be greeted with notes of blackberry and ripe plum, followed by touches of cocoa and cedar, and a long finish underpinned by fine-grained tannins and solid acidity.” If you’re like me, that’s just interesting information but won’t make you, or keep you, from trying it.

What appealed to me is that it’s said to be “extremely flexible when it comes to food,” They recommend serving it with hard cheeses and charcuterie as well as rich cuts of red meat like grilled lamb chops with rosemary and garlic. We served it with grilled steak, baked potatoes, and Caesar salad; with lasagna; and with a platter of hearty cheeses, Marcona almonds, quince paste, and crusty bread. It worked with everything, beautifully.

Maddalena Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
The notes say: “Red, ripe fruit including raspberry, plum, and spicy black cherry. Barrel aging contributes notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak spice. The mouth is round with a rich, silky texture that is framed by soft tannins.” They say it pairs well with green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Although we didn’t have this particular wine with our Thanksgiving meal, we did have it with a Shepherd’s Pie I made out of all of the leftovers and the wine did, indeed, go really well with it. We’ve also had the Cab with blue cheese and crackers; chicken cacciatore; and pork chops.

Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach
This was the biggest surprise of all for us. Described as having a “flavor profile of apricot, honeydew melon, and peach,” the website says it goes well with pumpkin pie. As the name would imply, it is a sweet wine but isn’t cloying. Served chilled, it’s refreshing and looks very pretty in a glass. The surprise was that it went with EVERYTHING we served at Thanksgiving – turkey, potatoes, stuffing, mixed greens salad, and cranberries (that I make on the tart side with orange zest). And, sure enough, it did go well with pumpkin pie. Another day though, we had mussels with garlic-roasted tomatoes and fennel and, shocker, the Golden Honey Peach was wonderful with it!

The Golden Honey Peach from Stella Rosa looks elegant and festive and went well with a holiday meal.

Chefs will always tell you to cook with wine that you’d want to drink. I’ll piggy back on that and say you should pick wine to pair with food that you’d thoroughly enjoy drinking on its own. There are some wines that go well with food but just aren’t interesting and delicious enough to go it alone. But all three of the wines we sampled were wonderful enough on their own to sip throughout an evening just for the pleasure of tasting them. The fact that they are great on their own but also go with so many different food flavor profiles, means they’ll have a regular place in my wine rack.

Learn more about the full Riboli family of brands, and how to purchase them, on their website. 

— Story and photos by Courtney Drake-McDonough

Please note, I received the three sample bottles of wine to facilitate this article. However, as is always our policy, my opinions are my own, honest and true. Here at RealFoodTraveler.com, we only review products or services that we think will be beneficial to our readers, and only write about those we can honestly recommend. 

Hungry for more? See what awaits you in another California wine region, Sonoma County. Find out what it’s like in Carmel-by-the-Sea, next to Monterey, where Riboli Family Wines makes wine. And see how you can get around in Los Angeles, without a car.