Italian Food Night

[Thomas]

I agree with some of what has been posted; and I disagree with some.

I completely agree with Drew that over-oaking is a New World phenomenon; while the Old World uses oak, it does not (generally) overuse it, unless it aspires to the so-called International Style. I prefer New World woody wines without food--actually, I don't prefer them much at all.

As for fruit forward wines: that is both a New and Old World tradition but again, New World takes it to another level, extracting as much as is possible from a grape so as to obliterate (in my opinion) other nuances. These wines, too, are problematic with food, unless the food is powerful, as KC mentions.

It is a matter of preference and, like KC, I prefer Old World wines with Old World style cooking. Unlike KC, I shy away from much of what I taste as bombastic New World styles--in wine and in cooking.