Pairing Off: Microwave popcorn versus Viognier.

In this column we ask for expert help to pair wine with ordinary food.

Every once in a while we yearn for those days when complex processes could be tossed aside with a casual phrase—”greed is good,” “just say no,” “there you go again” or “read my lips, no new taxes.”

Yes, the 1980s, when misinformation (ketchup is a vegetable) was delivered in a soothing tone and we were alerted to dinner by the ping of a microwave.

Come snack time people would toss a bag of popcorn into the unit, kick back and watch Michael Jordan run with the basketball on cable while counting the seconds between pops or sniffing for that telltale aroma as kernels turned to lava.

Fortunately it’s possible to relive some of those memories. Microwave popcorn still exists, proudly bearing the Orville Redenbacher name. But don’t stoop to an ’80s wine to go along for the ride.

Lambrusco? Blue Nun? Gag. As the philosopher Billy Joel so wisely said, the good old days weren't always good.

Fortunately, these days we are well placed to find a popcorn pairing.

“Chardonnay is a no-brainer because of popcorn’s buttery flavor,” observes Claire Sutton, sommelier and owner of Sovino Wine Bar & Merchant in Monterey.

Not wanting to take the easy way out, Sutton weighed the profile of microwave popcorn—the “natural” butter flavoring, the salt, the potential for harsh acrid notes if left under the pulsing electromagnetic beams too long.

“This is fun,” she says.

Sutton decided an oaked wine would be the best combatant. “It gives wine a round texture,” she reasons. “You need that with popcorn.”

She recommends an Albariño from Comanche Cellars. Which would be great. But there was an empty spot on her shelf, naturally. So she settled on a 2017 Sarah’s Vineyard Viognier.

It’s a compelling wine with some unexpected twists. On introduction it receives you with impressions of fresh peach, orange blossom and honeysuckle on the nose. Yet it lures you further, offering hints of sliced pear, apple peel, melon and must.

The wine is rich in feel, piquing the palate with ripe stone fruits balanced by dried apple rings and melon rind, laced by vanilla, earthy spice and river rock. Throughout is a zing of citrus and the ease of fresh pear. It’s a nice Viognier.

Paired with Orville Redenbacher’s finest natural flavoring, the Sarah’s Vineyard Viognier brightens, becoming juicier, rinsing the “butter” that clings to your throat. The trace of nutmeg sensed when tasting on its own is more pronounced. That creamy richness from oak lingers on the finish.

Meanwhile the popcorn feels leaner to the taste, with sparks of salt and a toasty swirl.

Sutton points out that because of its versatility, popcorn could welcome other wines, some with an opulent vanilla and toffee could lend a caramel corn touch, for example.

“I’m so going to do that later,” she says.

For the rest of us, it’s time to shake off the past. Microwave popcorn boomed from $53 million in retail sales when it first became widely available in the early ’80s to $250 million three years later, at least according to the Popcorn Institute (scholars will dig into anything).

But they say millennials tend to ruin things, right? Department stores vacant. Cable TV switched off.

Microwave popcorn may still be around, but...

Almost a decade ago, AdAge issued a report suggesting people no longer had the patience to wait those grueling two minutes for kernels to pop. Smarter forms of popcorn—pre-popped and in ready bags—now reach almost $700 million in sales.

No matter. The Viognier is up for anything with popcorn and artificial flavor.