wine without food

[ROCK-A-BO]

how bad is it to drink wine without food?

It never fails I'll find a wine I like then I try it again later with food and it doesn't taste as good. it is really disapointing. Either I'm not pairing the wine correctly or I'm just a lush and don't want anything to take away from the flavor of the wine. But isn't food supposed to excentuate the flavor of wine?

[Innkeeper]

Two things. First not all wine is made to go with food. Huge reds and over oaky whites, especially chardonnay, go with very few foods if any. Huge reds go with huge steaks, and oaky chards go with roast chicken dripping with butter. Little else. What you can do with both types of wine is quaff them. If you read WW's posts on cabs, he rarely mentions what, if anything, he ate with them.

Secondly, even "food wines" go better with foods if they are properly matched. Admittedly there is a school of "all wine goes with all food." Technically this is probably true, but with thought and practice, one can optimize one's choices. If you peruse our Wine and Food Affinities thread, going way back as you can easily, you will find many excellent recommendations on matching wines and foods. If you ever have a specific question on the subject, post it on that thread, and we will do our best to help you out.

[wineguruchgo]

In my opinion, and some my disagree, New World(California, Australia) wines are better when consummed by themselves.

Old world (Italy, France) wines just taste better when consummed with food.

Stylistically they are different. The OWW are made in the traditions of pairing with foods. Generally they are earthier than the fruitbomb counterparts.

[ROCK-A-BO]

that makes sence since the majority of what i have tasted is from CA or TX and i'm not into the "earthy" flavors.

We are having a non traditional Thanksgiving of Italian instead of the traditional turkey and stuffing. I would like to find something that will taste good with the pasta to have with dinner instead of waiting until after I finnish eating to enjoy my wine.

Menue:

salad
bread & olive oil

manacotti
spaghetti
fetticnini alfredo
pesto

tiramisu
baclava

HELP!!!!

[Innkeeper]

Other than the Alfredo, have no idea what sauces would be involved. For non tomato sauces you could have Dolcetto d'Alba, Salice Salentino, Nero d'Avola, or Rosso Conero. For sauces with tomato you could have Barbera d'Asti, Barbera d'Alba, Chianti Classico, Rosso di Montalcino, or Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

[ROCK-A-BO]

any New World suggestions?

[Innkeeper]

A lighter Zinfandel (less than 13% alcohol)or Australian Shiraz for the non-tomato sauces. A California Barbera or heavier Pinot Noir with the tomato sauces.