Wine and Chips, cuz I’m classy like that.

The Miss Vickie’s brand is thrilled to announce that it is celebrating an incredible 25 years this year! Making its debut in 1987 at the Alliston Potato Festival in Ontario, Miss Vickie’s potato chips have come a long way to become Canada’s favourite kettle cooked potato chip brand. In the spirit of celebrating its silver anniversary, the brand has partnered with Australian Wine, Rosemount Estate, to introduce a first-of-its-kind pairings concept, ‘wine and chips’, to show Canadians why potato chips and wine are better enjoyed together.

A recent national survey*, conducted by Harris/Decima and commissioned by the Miss Vickie’s brand, revealed that almost half of the Canadian population say they enjoy potato chips at least a few times a month or more, and over 60 per cent say they pair a glass of wine with a snack like potato chips just as often. Perhaps most surprising is that Canadians are more likely to drink wine over beer on a regular basis, with women dominating this percentage. Based on a variety of these findings, it was a natural fit for the Miss Vickie’s brand to take the lead in presenting Canadians with a new way to appreciate and enjoy its delicious flavour varieties.

Andrew Floor, Global Brand Director, and the team at Rosemount Estate, created a series of official Miss Vickie’s and Rosemount Estate ‘wine and chip’ pairings to awaken palates from coast-to-coast with new taste and flavour experiences that might not have been expected. These pairings include:

MISS VICKIE’S ORIGINAL RECIPE POTATO CHIPS + ROSEMOUNT ESTATE SHIRAZ-CABERNET

Sophistication without pretense
The crunch of Miss Vickie’s Original Recipe potato chips forms an ideal backdrop for the spicy fruit richness of Shiraz and unmistakable blackcurrant flavours of Cabernet. An ideal balance of salt seasoning melds seamlessly with integrated oak flavours in the wine creating the ultimate, irresistible snack.

MISS VICKIE’S SEA SALT & MALT VINEGAR POTATO CHIPS + ROSEMOUNT ESTATE PINOT GRIGIO

A classic combination
Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar potato chips’ distinctive tangy taste truly shows off the tropical fruit and pear flavours in this Pinot Grigio. Always a crowd pleaser, this wine has great texture across the palate which stands up well to the savoury flavours in this expression of a much-loved classic flavoured chip.

MISS VICKIE’S BALSAMIC VINEGAR & SWEET ONION POTATO CHIPS + ROSEMOUNT ESTATE SHIRAZ

Down-right delicious
The popular Rosemount Diamond Shiraz finds its ultimate match here. The complex taste of Miss Vickie’s Balsamic Vinegar & Sweet Onion potato chips, a balance of sweet and sour, perfectly complements the wine’s vibrant cassis flavours while the sweet onion brings out enticing hints of licorice and spice. Look for a smooth, seamless integration of all components supported by silky tannins which carry the flavours forward in a lingering finish.

Recently, I was asked to host a party with some girlfriends to sample Miss Vickie’s chips paired with Rosemount Estate wines – and I have to say it was one of the easiest parties to get people to come out for!  Wine, chips, who could really say no to that?  We sipped our wine and sampled the chips, trading stories as women do and had a fabulous evening on our deck.

The consensus in our group of 7 women was that the Rosemount Estate Pinot Grigio paired with Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar Potato Chips really did seem to bring out the flavour in the wine (and it was our favorite wine as well overall).  The other pairings were tested and discussed (among stories of our husband’s goofball antics) and while the reds were tasty too, we all favored the Pinot!

As much as I joked before-hand about being “classy” with wine and chips (instead of the usual wine and cheese or hors d’oeuvres), it turns out that the pairings are a really good idea and now it’s something I’ll have on hand to pair together for guests.

If you want to learn more about the Miss Vickie’s brand, they have a Facebook page!

Thanks to Meagan, Shari, Megan, Jodi, Rebecca and Heather for coming out and doing this very serious and important blog review with me!  What would I ever do without fabulous women in my life?  <— the answer in this case is drink way too much wine and eat way too many chips, probably resulting in a totally different review!