Grapevine: Super Bowl 50 Culinary Matchups of the Rival Teams

We’re in the middle of that period of football wasteland. No home team to root for in the postseason and no built-in reason to quaff our favorite wine or beer as we veg out in our favorite reclining chair.

Super Bowl 50 is as anticipated for its off-the-field festivities as it is for its on-field combat. The season has come down to a single game and the glory and esteem it will bestow on one team.

As I pondered this week’s column, I thought of the rivalry on the gridiron and began transposing it to the bars and living rooms across the country. Super Bowl Sunday brings together friends and family to indulge in the biggest junk food day of the year. Once a year we indulge guilt-free in those waist-widening, artery-clogging foods and drinks we try to fastidiously avoid all year.

So, what to consume on this traditional National Junk Food Day?

Here are several food facts for Super Bowl Sunday from the National Restaurant Association:

–Forty-eight million Americans will order takeout food. What else will we be eating?

–Sixty-nine percent will be noshing on salsa, chips and dips and 63 percent will be inhaling chicken wings. In fact, according to the National Chicken Council, 1.25 billion chicken wings will be devoured. They calculate that is enough to put 572 wings on every seat in all 32 NFL stadiums.

Here’s a Super Bowl challenge for the best food, wine and beer produced in the two rival football regions, North Carolina and Denver.

Food: As flamboyant, and talented, as Carolina quarterback Cam Newton has been this season, the cuisine of North Carolina seems a polar opposite. Its Southern-rooted dishes are comfort food at its best. Who can resist righteous pulled pork barbecue, topped with Texas Pete’s sauce, or mouth-watering fried buttermilk chicken served in the finest restaurants in Charlotte or the Outer Banks?

In Denver, local wild game is par excellence. I’ve enjoyed Bison sliders and Denver green pepper chili, followed by a roast of wild boar and elk. No Rocky Mountain Oysters for this columnist.

The winner? This decision is as close as I expect the game to be; my nod goes to Denver.

Wine: This is not an easy category. Neither state is particularly famous for its wines. Yet there are a number of gems that will satisfy the discriminating palate.

The wine industry in Colorado is over 100 years old; there are nearly 100 active wineries. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling dominate production. Top wineries include Balistreri and Zephyr, whose wines are predominantly sold in the local area.

North Carolina, likewise, has an active, yet unheralded wine industry. Over 100 wineries produce award-winning Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Scuppernong (a local white). Seek out Raylen, McRitchie and Raffaldini wines.

The wines of each state are similar to the two teams. Each will seek to take advantage of the other’s weaknesses. Viewers can do likewise with a small-production winery that tsneaks up on your palate and packs an unexpected wallop. This category is even; the game outcome may be decided on the unexpected.

Beer: This is the most difficult category. Each city overflows with craft breweries – over 150 each, several with national reputations. Just as the craft beer industry is evolving, so too the two teams. Carolina is relying on a new wave of players with self-assured cockiness, just like the surge of up-and-coming brash breweries in Charlotte and Asheville. Denver has the benefit of an established beer base, while providing fertile ground for building a strong foundation for future success.

Here’s a lineup of the most popular beers: Denver: New Belgium, Great Divide and Left Hand, North Carolina: Omega Point, The Event Horizon and Pernicious IPA.

The winner? It’s like the quarterbacks: Payton Manning has a long-term reputation for excellence, backed by a Super Bowl ring, versus Cam Newton, representing the next generation, redefining excellence and popularity, making his big game debut. I have to go with bold and brash.

Whatever your plans are for the Big Day, relax with your favorite junk food, your beverage of choice and enjoy the game.

 

Nick Antonaccio is a 40-year Pleasantville resident. For over 20 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.