Guidelines for wine selection

[ebojorq]

Hi there...

I would like to know whether there is a book of rules when selecting a wine for a meal or dinner.

I think I heard once that chicken and fish are to be eaten with a white wine and red that meats and cheeses with a red wine, but this is a rather gross sketch and there other factors as well like, sauces, vegetables, condiments, etc.

Where can I find such a guideline?

Thank you very much.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Ebojorg, and welcome to the Wine Board. Rules is a bad word when it comes to wine and food matching. Guidelines is a much better word. For a wonderful book with excellent guidelines look for: "Great Tastes Made Simple" by Andrea Immer. It is now awailable at discount from on-line sources such as Amazon. For a book with excellent guidelines that is also a good read, look for: "Bacchus & Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar" by Jay McInerney.

[newsguy]

also, wine spectator magazine has a very handy online wine/food matching feature on its web site:

http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Dining/FoodWine_Matching_Search/1,1205,,00.html

this won't educate you in terms of telling you why things pair up well, but it will let you cross reference all sorts of foods, including meats/fish (w/ various sauces), soups, salads cheeses and desserts, along with the types of wines that work with them.

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 06-07-2004).]

[chittychattykathy]

Our own Foodie has a few suggestions on his site as well. My feeling is that in order to learn more about pairing, one MUST pop several corks...

http://www.is-wine.com/WinesWithFood.html

[generalken]

I have to jump in on this one. Although I'm a novice, unless you are preparing a meal for more than you and your significant other there are traditional matches with food and wine. On the other hand, you drink what you like with what you like to eat. If you like red wine with fish, then you drink red wine. If you like white wine with steak, that is what you drink. Do not let anyone dictate to you what you should or should not drink. Don't drink for other people's approval, just your own.

[randomflygirl]

I'd like to add one little suggestion...

As a waitress, we were taught that certain wines pair well with certain foods because they balance in strength and richness, which is generally speaking why a cabernet will pair well with a rich chocolate desert or red meat, and a light white wine like a pinot grigio will pair well with chicken or fish cooked in a lemon sauce. But definitely... if you don't like a certain type of wine, you're not going to like it with the reccommended food, no matter how many critics tell you so.

J

[oldworld]

I spend a lot of time working on the perfect wine/ food pairings, and I can tell you that there is no perfect formula (but it sure is fun to experiment!)
I agree with generalken that one should always drink what he/she likes if you're loyal one particular wine(or wine type). My cousin only drinks Cakebread chardonnay, so when we're having steaks, I pour her a glass of her favorite wine, and a large glass of water. She sips water between the chard and her filet, and enjoys them separately.