When you first walk into the tasting room at Food Matters in Alexandria, you feel as though you are about to sit down to an intimate dinner. The central focus of the room is a large table made of reclaimed wood, while floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with afternoon light. Christy Przystawik, one of the owners of Food Matters and facilitator for the tastings, places tasting notes and pens at each seat. But don’t let the detailed notes and maps fool you – wine tasting at Food Matters is not a stuffy or uptight experience. Przystawik says that she tries to “give people a forum in which they can relax and taste wine… don't let people get stuffy about it and don't be a snob.”

Tasters are seated around the large table and hors d’oeuvres prepared by chef Tom Przystawik, Christy’s husband and co-owner of Food Matters, are placed in the center and passed around family-style. Although the focus of the tasting is on the wine, foodies will be thrilled with the simple, but incredibly fresh spread. Both Przystawiks were chefs at Café Atlántico before opening Food Matters, so the food is always thoughtfully prepared and beautifully presented.

Once the food is on the table, it’s time to focus on wine. Christy Przystawik explains the basics about the wines, including: the grapes used, the characteristics of the soil, which years have been especially good, etc. Wines are chosen to highlight a variety of characteristics and can range from $12 to $50 a bottle.

Their philosophy on relaxed wine tasting is evidenced by the absence of pretentious wine jargon from the tasting experience – in fact, Przystawik describes one wine as having “a funk that I really like.” Guests are encouraged to share their impressions of the wines, no matter how unsophisticated or rudimentary. There is no discussion of whether a wine tastes more like lingonberries or currants; instead, talk centers on how well a wine exemplifies the characteristics of a particular vintage or grape and what kinds of meals would best work with what’s in your glass.

Recognizing that matching food and wine can be intimidating, the hors d’oeuvres are kept simple to give tasters an idea of what to pair with the wines. Two pairings, a white Bordeaux with shrimp salad and cilantro on cucumber rounds and a red Bordeaux with melted raclette on baguettes, make sure that nothing overly complicated outshines the wines.

When asked what she looks for in choosing labels to sell, Przystawik says that she places an emphasis on how well a wine represents the region, grape, or style and value, all while presenting guests with something new and exciting.

“People walk into the wine retail section of Food Matters and say, ‘I just don't recognize most of these labels.’ I take that as a compliment. I don't want you to find our wines at your local grocery store. Stick around and you'll get to know them. We rotate our wines by the glass list regularly so that the wine that you fell in love with while sitting at the bar can later be found on the retail shelf.”

Food Matters has a great line-up of events for the remainder of April:

- Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m., Northwest Wine Dinner. This dinner will consist of hors d’oeuvres and 3 courses all paired with wines from Washington State and Oregon. The cost for the dinner is $65 (not including tax and gratuity).

- Saturday, April 19 at 3 and 6 p.m., Chilean wines tasting. The cost is $20 per person for five wines with hors d’oeuvres. Guests also receive a 10% discount if they buy bottles of any of the wines served at the tasting.

- Sunday, April 27 at 3 and 6 p.m., beer and cheese tasting. The Food Matters team is “getting a little more serious about beer” and to celebrate this new focus, they are hosting two tastings that will feature a selection of beers paired with various cheeses at $15 per person.

To make reservations for any of these events, you can call Food Matters at 703.461.3663.

Food Matters
4906 Brenman Park Drive
Alexandria, VA 22304
Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.