FOOD & WINE HARMONY

Getting Started by Keeping Things Simple When learning to match food and wine, you don't have to learn complicated systems for selecting the right wine to enhance the food on the table. This is not rocket science. There is a simple way to make successful wine and food pairings, requiring only that you consider the weight of both the wine and the food when making a decision about what to pour with what you'll be serving and eating. Its fun to experiment and ne-tune, and with experience you may be able to create spectacular matches that dramatically improve both the dish and the wine. But save those efforts for special occasions, and special wines. Because most of the time, you will spend more time talking with your guests than you will analyzing the pairings. So the rst rule of thumb is to make sure the food is good and the wine is, too. Even if the match is not perfect, you will still enjoy what you're drinking. Consumers: How to select wine? When it comes to selecting a wine to match with your food, don't try to get too fancy. First, choose a wine that you would want to drink by itself. Then consider the weight of the dish and the wine, respectively. This is where common sense comes in. The old rule about white wine with sh and red wine with meat made perfect sense in the days when white wines were mostly light and fruity and red wines were mostly tannic and weighty. But today, when many California Chardonnays are heavier and fuller-bodied than most California Pinot Noirs and even some Cabernets, color coding does not always work.

How Do Reds Differ from Whites? Red wines are distinct from whites in two main ways: tanninsmany red wines have them, few white wines doand avors. White and red wines share many common avors; both can be spicy, buttery, leathery, earthy or oral. But the apple, pear and citrus avors in many white wines seldom show up in reds, and the currant, cherry and stone fruit avors of red grapes usually do not appear in whites. In the wine-and-food matching game, these avor differences become mere subtleties. You can make better wine choices by focusing on a wine's weight. Like human beings, wines come in all dimensions. To match them with food, it's useful to know where they t in a spectrum, with the lightest wines at one end and fuller-bodied wines toward the other end.

To help put the world of wines into perspective, we offer the following lists, which arrange many of the most commonly encountered wines into a hierarchy based on size, from lightest to weightiest. If you balance the wine with the food by choosing one that will seem about the same weight as the food, you raise the odds dramatically that the match will succeed. Some Champagnes are more delicate than some Rieslings, and some Sauvignon Blancs are bigger than some Chardonnays. When you are searching for a light wine to go with dinner, pick one from the top end of the list. When you want a bigger wine, look toward the end. Selected dry and off-dry white wines, lightest to weightiest: Muscadet Orvieto Pinot Blanc/Pinot Bianco Pinot Grigio (e.g. Italy) Prosecco Rioja (white) Soave Chenin Blanc, dry or off-dry Gewrztraminer, dry or off-dry Riesling, dry or off-dry Pinot Gris (e.g. Alsace, Oregon) Vouvray, sec or demi-sec Bordeaux, white Grner Veltliner Sancerre or Pouilly-Fum Sauvignon Blanc Smillon Verdejo Albario Arneis Cava Champagne and other dry sparkling wines Chablis (or other un-oaked Chardonnay) Falanghina Gavi Greco di Tufo Mcon Vermentino

 Burgundy whites, Cte d'Or Chardonnay (esp. New World, oaked) Rhne whites Viognier Selected red wines, lightest to weightiest: Beaujolais (or other Gamay) Dolcetto Valpolicella (not Amarone) Barbera Burgundy Cabernet Franc Chianti (or other Sangiovese) Ctes du Rhne Grenache/Garnacha Pinot Noir (e.g. California, New Zealand, Oregon) Rioja reds (other Tempranillo) Bordeaux Brunello di Montalcino Malbec (esp. Argentina) Merlot Pinotage Rhne reds, Northern Zinfandel (also Primitivo) Barolo and Barbaresco Cabernet Sauvignon (esp. New World) Chteauneuf-du-Pape Petite Sirah Ribera del Duero Shiraz/Syrah Hearty food needs a hearty wine. A dish like braised pork belly, for example, or a lasagna Bolognese, will run roughshod over Pinot Noir or Valpolicella, making them taste insipid. Better to uncork a Malbec, Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon. With lighter food, you have more leeway. Lighter wines will balance nicely against your chicken Caesar salad, sashimi platter or chilled pea soup, of course, but heartier wines will still show you all they have. Purists may complain that full-bodied wines "overwhelm" lighter

foods, but the truth is that anything with a modicum of seasoning still tastes ne after a sip of a heavyweight wine. These are the secrets behind some of the classic wine-and-food matches. Muscadet washes down a plate of oysters or crudo seasoned with sea salt because it's just weighty enough to match the delicacy of a raw bivalve or slab of pristinely fresh sh. Cabernet complements short ribs or grilled lamb chops because they're equally vigorous. Pinot Noir or Burgundy makes a better match with prime rib or pasta with sauted porcini mushrooms because the richness of texture is the same in both the wine and the food. To make your own classic matches, start off on the traditional paths and then deviate a little. Try a dry Champagne or a dry Riesling, which are on either side of Muscadet on our weight list, with raw or lightly cooked shellsh for a similar effect. Don't get stuck on Cabernet with red meatslook up and down the list and try Zinfandel or Ctes-du-Rhne. Instead of Burgundy or Pinot Noir with beef or mushrooms, try a little St.-Emilion or Barbera. That's the way to put a little variety into your wine life without straying too far from the original purpose. But What About Sweet Wines? Some wine drinkers recoil at the thought of drinking an off-dry (sweet) wine with dinner, insisting that any hint of sweetness in a wine destroys its ability to complement food. In practice, nothing can be further from the truth. Think about how many Americans (and not just children) drink sweet tea, lemonade or soda with dinner. Why should wine be different? The secret to matching wine and food is balance. So long as a wine balances its sugar with enough natural acidity, a match can work. This opens plenty of avenues for fans of German Rieslings, Vouvrays and demi-sec Champagnes. One of the classic wine-and-food matches is Sauternes, a sweet dessert wine, with foie graswhich blows the sugarphobes' theory completely. The match works because the wine builds the richness of the wine upon the richness of the fatty liver. The moral of the article is not to let some arbitrary rules spoil your fun. If you like a wine, drink it with food you enjoy and you're bound to be satised. REFERENCES The Food and Wine Journal Forbes magazine Food Network website The Wine spectator

MATCHING FOOD AND BEVERAGES

SHELLFISH AND FISH Wines that accompany sh dishes are usually white and dry. Here the fresh, sharp and often acidic avor of the wine gives a good balance and harmony to the light textured and sometimes oily esh of the sh. Some examples of dry white wines are: Champagnes brut Chablis (Burgundy) Pouilly-Fuisse (Burgundy) Alsace (almost all Alsace wines) Frascati (Italy) Sparkling wines (Dry) Meursault (Burgundy) Entre-deux-Mers (Burgundy) Muscadet (Loire) Hocks (Germany) MEAT All red wines with the exception of those that may be described as being full, heavy and robust are recognized as harmonizing well with both lamb and beef. Some examples being: St. Julien (Bordeaux) St. Emilion (Bordeaux) Fleurie (Beaujolais) Chianti (Italy) Valpolicella (Italy) Pauillac (Bordeaux) Pomerol (Bordeaux) Bardolino (Italy) Zinfandel (California)

Pork and Veal are best suited to harmonize with white wines which are medium by nature. The inclination of medium to dry or medium to sweet must be left as a matter of personal preference. Some examples are: Chateau Olivier (Graves, Bordeaux) Entre-deux-Mers (Bordeaux) Fleurie (Beaujolais) Chianti (Italy) Valpolicella (Italy) Chateau Carbonnieux (Graves, Bordeaux) Soave (Italy) Bardolino (Italy) Zinfandel (California)

At times a clients preference may be for a light red wine to accompany a roasted white meat. Examples of such wines drunk as an accompaniment to roast poultry (chicken and turkey) as well as pork and veal are: Beaune (Burgundy) Beaujolais (Burgundy) Volnay (Burgundy) Chinon (Loire)

With cold meats such as chicken and turkey the light dry white table wines or drier rose wines, or even the fresh petillant (semi-sparkling) white wines are acceptable here and tend to complement well the avors of cold poultry without being to overpowering. GAME Suitable wines to serve with game would be full-bodied, robust red wines. These wines are suitable because they counter the highly avored meat such as a pheasant, grouse, partridge and the like. Examples of appropriate wines to complement game are: St. Joseph (Rhone) Cote Rotie (Rhone) Hermitage (Rhone) Chateauneuf du Pape (Rhone) Gevrey-Chambertin (Burgundy) Graves(Bordeaux) Pomerol (Bordeaux) Barbera (Italy) Barolo (Italy) Chianti Classico (Italy)

SWEETS AND DESSERTS Sweets and desserts, especially those containing fruit, are well complemented by sweet white wines. Examples of such wines are: Sauternes (Bordeaux) Barsac (Bordeaux) Graves (Bordeaux) Cerons (Bordeaux) Loupiac (Bordeaux) Auslese(Germany) Beerenauslese (Germany) Trockenbeerenauslese (Germany) Champagne doux (Champagne) Asti Spumante sparkling wine (Italy)

CHEESE Stilton harmonises best with port, whilst all hard cheeses are best complemented by the fullbodied and robust red wines. The blue-veined cheeses tend to blend better with the lighter red wines such as claret (Bordeaux red wines) and the cream or soft cheeses will accept rose wine or medium to sweet white table wine.

The tables below is a general chart showing the styles and types of wines available. Individual wines vary according to vintage. The numbers following white, sparkling and rose wines refer to the sweetness scale adopted by the Wine Development Board. (1 = dryest, 9 = sweetest)

ROSE/ RED Rose LIGHT Anjou Rose (5) Spanish Rose (1) Rose de Provence (2) Chilean Rose (1) Pinot Noir Alsace (1) Jura Rose (1) Rose Cava (2) Blanc de Noir (3) Tavel rose (1) Californian Rose (6) FULL

Fruity Reds Beaujolais Noveau Cotes du Rhone Beaujolais Villages Macon Rouge Sancerre Rouge Cotes de Nuits Villages Reserve Rioja Pommard Nuits St. George Californian Pinot Noit

Claret-style Reds Red Loire (Cabernet Franc) Grave de fruilli Cotes du Duras Cotes de Buzet Bergerac Medoc St. Emilion Pomerol Chilean Cabernet Australian Cabernet Californian Cabernet

Herby-spice reds Valpolicella Bardolino Syrah deArdeche Dolcetto Chianti Classico Chateauneuf du Pape Barolo Shiraz Hermitage Recciotto di Valpolicella

WHITE Grapy Whites LIGHT Yugoslavian Riesling (4) Alsace Riesling (1) Mosel Kabinett (2) Alsace Pinot Blanc (1) Trockenbeerenauslese (8) Eiswein (9) Tokay (9) Setubal (8) Australian Muscats (9) FULL

Grassy-fruit whites Frascati (2)

Richer whites Bordeaux Sauvignon (1) Sancerre (1) Pouilly Blanc Fume (1) St. Veran (1) Montrachet (1) Meursault (1) White Rhone (1) Australian Chardonnay (1) Californian Chardonnay (1)

Sparkling Dry Champagne (1)

Soave (1) Muscadet sue Lie (1) Pinot Grigio (1) Chablis (1) Vouvray (4) Vinho Verde (3) Barsac (7) Sauternes (7)

Frizzante (7) Deutsche Sekt (3) Blanquette de Limoux (1) Champagne Blanc de Blancs (1) Saumur Demi-sec (5) Cava Semi-Secco Rich Champagne (7) Asti Spumante (7)

WINE & FOOD

A few general rules are set out below that may be followed when advising the customer on which beverage to choose to accompany a meal. It must be stressed that all times customers should be given complete freedom in their selection of wines, etc. 1. Aperitifs are alcoholic beverages that are drunk before the meal. It should be noted here that, if one anticipates consuming wine with the meal, then the aperitif selected should be a grape (wine based) rather than a grain (spirit based) aperitif, since the latter would spoil the palate. The aperitif should therefore be a dry, wine based beverage. It is meant to stimulate the appetite and should never be sweet. Dry and medium dry sherries, dry vermouths and Sercial or Verdelho Madeira are all discering choices of aperitif. 2. The starter courses are best accompanied by a dry white or dry rose wine.

3. National dishes should be complemented by the national wines of that country. For instance Italian red wine should be served with pasta. 4. Fish and Shellsh dishes are most suited to well-chilled dry white wines. 5. Red meats such as beef and lamb blend and harmonize well with red wine. Meats such as veal and pork harmonize well with full bodied whites or light red wines. 6. Game dishes require the heavier and more robust red wines to complement the full avor of these dishes. 7. Sweets & desserts are served at the end of the meal, and here it is acceptable to offer well chilled sweet white wines that may come from either the Loire, Sauternes, Barsac or Hungary. These wines harmonize well with dishes containing fruit. 8. The majority of cheeses blend with port and other dry robust red wines. Port is the traditional wine harmonizing with Stilton cheese. 9. The grain and fruit based brandies & liqueurs all harmonize well with coffee. A few general rules as a guide will ensure that one appreciates the best characteristics of the wines selected to accompany the meal: Champagne and Sparkling wine complement most foods. Consume red wine with red meat and white with white meat. Consume white wine before red wine. Consume dry wine before sweet wine. Consume good wine before a great wine. Commence with a grape aperitif rather than a grain aperitif prior to the meal. Temperature your wine correctly. REFERENCES Courtesy of the Sunday Telegraph Magazine Food and Beverage Service / Dennis R. Lillicrap and John A. Cousins