Pair it up! Eggs All Day

I’m an egg guy. Love ’em. When out for brunch with friends, I’m the guy who likes his eggs runny, sopping it all up with toast and making those around me with hangovers shudder. Any eggy breakfast I’m totally into, a random fast food breakfast sandwich brings me minimal guilt, poached eggs with avocado on excellent bread fills me with glee, you get the picture.

It probably goes without saying then, that I’m cool with eggs being a component of my meal at any time of day. The best part? It’s those other meals where I can bring wine into the fold.

If I’m ordering a burger somewhere and there’s an option to put an egg on it, I’m so in! I was perusing some of the fare on Carrian Cheney’s Oh, Sweet Basil blog and my heart practically skipped a beat upon laying eyes on her Brazilian burger with egg. Embedded within a post on tips for a successful marriage (yes, really) is the how-to for this game-changer of a burger that has a ground beef AND CHORIZO SAUSAGE patty along with some standard toppings, avocado and – you guessed it – a fried egg. When it’s burger time, earthy and minerally, yet bright and juicy Gamays are often in order. Grabbing one from the likes of Niagara’s EastDell Estates or the Okanagan Valley’s JoieFarm would certainly do the trick!

Or say you want something with a little heat? Canadian Living’s take on Pad Thai indeed incorporates a little egg, and offers options for a vegetarian version as well. You always want to be careful with dishes that have spice, particularly if you’re really laying it on, as wines that are bone-dry will just accentuate that heat, and in turn the heat will make the wine’s alcohol more pronounced. Go with a slightly off-dry Riesling, the 2013 vintage from Tantalus has the perfect little smidge of sweetness, and you’ll find yourself enjoying a fine balance.

And get this, the incredible (Canadian!) food blog Tartine and Apron Strings has this absolutely bonkers-looking recipe for pappardelle with chanterelle mushrooms in a light Chardonnay cream sauce. Come on! And with an egg on it? BOOM! That’s a picture of it tacked along with this post. Seriously, I’m so all over this. The best part is, you don’t even have to think too much about a good wine to pair, the answer’s right in the name of the recipe. A little 2013 Unoaked Chardonnay from Tawse? Perfect.

Kurtis Kolt is a Vancouver-based wine consultant, writer, competition judge and enthusiast. He’s not half as fancy/boring as that sounds. He Tweets and Instagrams @KurtisKolt.