About PairedBest
Co-creator
A screenwriting hobby led to many nights of wine sampling and discussion: blind tastings, challenges to identify varietal, AVA, and vintage, and one recurring question—why do some foods work so well with certain wines? The result is PairedBest. With a diverse background in real estate, finance, telecommunications, and construction, this is Matt's passion project.
Co-creator
Tom is a professional civil engineer whose obsession with wine led him to work in the winery development business in Healdsburg. “It keeps me in the vineyards year-round and allows me to work with winemakers and growers.” In his spare time, Tom is also a passionate amateur winemaker and cook, as well as a jazz musician and recording engineer.
Wine should be approachable. You shouldn't need an expert vocabulary, an enormous budget, or anyone else's permission to enjoy it. Wine snobbery helps no one—not new drinkers, not longtime enthusiasts, and certainly not the growers and wineries that need another generation to feel welcome.
Learning about your palate should be fun. There is no answer sheet for taste, and your preferences will change as you try new wines, foods, regions, and combinations. What you love today may surprise you a few years from now. That evolution is part of the pleasure.
Wine isn't soda, and that's part of the point. It won't taste exactly the same every time. The vintage, temperature, glass, food, setting, and people around you can all change the experience. Wine asks you to slow down, pay attention, and share what you notice.
Beer and cocktails have their place, but wine has a special relationship with food. Choosing a wine for a meal—and preparing food with that wine in mind—can turn dinner into a shared experiment. Sometimes the pairing is wonderful. Sometimes it misses. Either result gives you something to talk about and something to learn.
For younger adults beginning to host dinners, date, and gather around the table, bringing a bottle of wine can be a particularly thoughtful gesture. It says you considered the meal and want to contribute to the occasion, not simply arrive with something to drink.
Most importantly, wine is communal. It is better when poured, tasted, and discussed with other people. PairedBest exists to make that experience more accessible: fewer rules, less intimidation, more curiosity—and more memorable meals shared around the table.