A Brief Guide to Winter Dried Fruit

Much like how the word "several" does not exclusively refer to seven of something, "dried fruit" covers more than just fruit. In common parlance, "dried fruit" involves nuts as well as fruit. Much like how wine is best enjoyed with good company, dried fruit makes good company with the taste of good wine.

Reasons why you would want to pair your wine with nuts and fruits include having something to eat while your drink and their flavors give a wonderfully complementary taste to the wine you drink as many of them come up when describing a wine's flavor.

Apricots: Dried apricots vary from sweet to tart and are rich in niacin, beta-Carotene, Vitamin E, potassium and iron.

Dates: Dates have a very sweet, earthy flavor. Beyond being sugar-rich, dates are modest sources of Vitamins B5 and B6, potassium, magnesium and manganese.

Figs: Known for their sweetness, figs are a good source of dietary fiber and manganese.

Lemon & Orange Rind: While citrus rinds are bitter, their scraped zests have wonderful tang. Citrus rinds offer high amounts of Vitamin C, dietary fiber and calcium.

Cherries: Cherries can be sweet or sour. Nutritionally, sweet cherries offer carbs and protein but sour cherries also offer notable amounts of Vitamin C and beta-carotene.

Hazelnuts: Known for their sweet, buttery flavor, hazelnuts are rich in thiamine, Vitamin E, manganese, phosphorous, zinc, iron, magnesium and Vitamin B6.

Pistachios: Pistachio has a mild to strong sweetness, depending on age, and rich levels of thiamine, Vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese and phosphorous.

Almonds: Almonds have a somewhat sour nuttiness that can be counteracted with salt. Almonds are high in riboflavin, niacin, vitamin E, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous and zinc.

Walnuts: Walnuts have a mild flavor profile of tang and sharpness and contain notable amounts of thiamine, Vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous and zinc.

Cashews: Understandably, cashews have a rich nuttiness and are rich in thiamine, Vitamins B6 and K, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese phosphorous and zinc.

Best Wine Pairing for Winter Dried Fruit: Vinsanto Wine