OUR COMPANY
Insta-somm is the first objective, systematic method of pairing food and wine, based on the science of molecular gastronomy. Foods are matched with the wines that share the same molecular structure. The dominant flavor molecule is represented by a color: green, yellow, red, orange, and blue. Each wine is also assigned a number and then paired with foods that match their level of acidity, from bone-dry (level 1) to sweet (level 4).
HISTORY
It all began at the famous Spanish restaurant, El Bulli, 5-time winner of the title “Best Restaurant in the World.” Its renowned chefs, Juli Soler and Ferran Adrià, began experimenting with numerous avant-garde cooking techniques that led to an interest in the molecular structure of food and how it reacts to different cooking techniques. But it was the French Canadian sommelier, François Chartier, in his groundbreaking work Tastebuds and Molecules, who began pairing food with wine, based on the molecular structure of each.
A TRIP TO SAUMUR-CHAMPIGNY, FRANCE
Insta-somm started with a trip to Chateau Yvonne, in the Loire Valley, where Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc are the varietals of the day. But, most Americans don’t know them, so the owner and winemaker, Matthieu Vallée, told me he has trouble selling them in the American market. I told him that we sell lots of Chenin and Cab Franc at my wine shop in Gloucester, Massachusetts. How? We do it by pairing them with the right foods. I explained that Chenin is one of the most versatile wines with many foods, including Asian, and Cabernet Franc is one of very few red wines that works with salads, vegan dishes, and things like artichokes and asparagus that are challenging matches.
So the idea of developing a food and wine pairing system to introduce more people to great wines they may not know was born. A simple system that matches foods by color and number makes food and wine pairing easy and fool-proof for anyone!
Here I am with Chenin Blanc vines that are over 100 years old! No one should miss out on great wines made from the concentrated fruit of vines like this! >
