wrong choice?

[Kcwhippet]

This is very curious, Curious. You have given a somewhat unusual description of your experience with wine. I grew up in a house where wine was part of the culture and I've had wine with meals since I was about six years old. That's over fifty years and in all that time I don't believe I've had a wine that actually smelled like alcohol. Probably the closest would have been a big 16%+ red Zin that had lost a lot of its fruit. Anyway, there are a few basic "rules" to pairing wine with food, and one is to pick a wine that's of the same ethnicity as the food. In your second case you had a pizza, though you don't say what kind. If you had a California pizza with artichokes, almost any wine would taste terrible. If it was a fairly typical version with tomato sauce, cheese and some regular toppings, then an Italian (or Italian style) red wine might have been a better choice. IMO, white Zin doesn't go with many foods because it's just too light.