• Select dishes that are rich, creamy, high in fat, or salty to counterbalance the wine.
• Match the wine with tart food (sharp ingredients, vinaigrettes and other sharp sauces).
• Use the wine to cut the heat in mildly spicy dishes.
• Try skipping the lemon wedge that you might otherwise serve with the dish (with fish, chicken, veal, pork, vegetables, and grains).
SWEET
• If you're serving the wine with dessert, choose a dessert that's less sweet than the wine, or else the wine will taste sour.
• If the wine is not too sweet (closer to off-dry), try serving it with foods that are slightly sweet to complement it, or dishes that are mildly hot or spicy as a foil.
• Try playing the wine against dishes that are a little salty; you may find some fun combinations, especially with cheeses and many Asian and Nuevo Latino, North African, Floridian/Caribbean, or Hawaiian-influenced “tropical” preparations.
HOT/ALCOHOLIC
• Ensure that the dish being served is ample in personality and weight, or it will be overwhelmed.
• Don't serve very spicy-hot food, or you'll be sorry!
• Remember that food will make the wine appear even hotter.
• Avoid excessive salt, which will exaggerate your perception of the wine's heat (alcohol).
TANNIC
• Counterbalance the tannins by serving foods that are high in protein, fat, or both.
• Remember that an entrée relatively low in protein or fat may make the wine come off as even more tannic.
• Remember that tannin and spicy heat can clash brutally.
• Use pepper (cracked black or white) to counterbalance tannins, as it's somewhat bitter by nature.
• Serve foods that are bitter (eggplant, zucchini, chard, endive, broccoli rabe, and so on) or prepare ingredients in a way that accentuates bitterness (blackening, cooking over a wood fire, or grilling) to achieve taste symmetry.
OAKY
• Because really oaky wines will always seem “bigger” with food, accompany them with bold recipes.
• Play up the oak through the choice of ingredients (include nuts or sweet spices) or cooking methods (lightly grilling or smoking).
• Remember that oak aging adds rich texture that can be nice with rich and textured sauces and dishes.
AGED AND RED
• Serve rare preparations of meats to fill in the flavor gaps left by the drying out of the youthful fruit that occurs as the wine develops in the bottle.
• Remember that because tannins soften over time, an aged red gives you a broader range of food options than a tannic young wine does.
• Bear in mind that wines become more delicate as they age; choose simpler preparations to show them off rather than make them compete for attention with complex recipes.
AGED AND WHITE
• Serve the wines with dishes that feature similar flavors (nuts, sherry, and dried fruits) to mirror the flavor profile.
• Compensate for the lost acidity in the mature wine with acidity in the dish: a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of verjus, or a splash of vinegar.
WHEN THE FOOD IS…
TART
• Serve a wine which is equally sharp or even more so, or the wine will taste off and shattered.
• Avoid red wines, except those of a sharper nature (Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Gamay).
• Don't overlook dry rosés and sparkling wines as options.
SLIGHTLY SWEET
• Make certain that the wine accompanying the food shares its personality traits: choose a wine that is slightly sweet, such as a Chenin Blanc, Riesling, or even sake.
• If you really want a dry wine, serve one that's young and very, very ripe.
• Remember that sometimes a wine with oak can work if the wood's sweetness mirrors that of the dish; however, success is not guaranteed.
SALTY
• Pick wines with low to moderate alcohol content, as the wine's heat will be exaggerated by the salt.
• Play with wines that have some sweetness; salt and sweet can enjoy each other's company!
• Avoid wines with high levels of oak or tannin.
SPICY OR HOT
• The spicier the dish, the more difficult it is to pair with wine. Select young wines with low to moderate alcohol content, minimal (or no) oak, and, if possible, some residual sugar (for whites and rosés).
• Among still wines, stick to off-dry whites and rosés; sparkling wines can also be nice foils for heat.
• You may have to forgo wine with Texas five-alarm chili or those Thai, Indian, and Korean dishes that make your hair stand on end. Opt instead for beer and yogurt-based drinks, along with large, large bowls of rice!
BITTER
• Select wines with bitter components (oak aging, tannins) to complement the personality of the recipe.
• Try wines with high acidity. This doesn't always work, but it's better than the opposite extreme. After all, tannin is an acid.
DOMINATED BY A STRONG SAUCE OR CONDIMENT
• Forget the main dish and match the wine to the sauce or condiments and side dishes.
SERVED VERY HOT
• Allow the dish to cool off, or it will ruin your enjoyment of the wine and make the alcohol (by heating it) seem overwhelming.
• Serve chilled wines if it's essential that the dish be served very hot.
OVERVIEW OF THE WINE JOURNEYS
The heart of this book is a sequence of journeys through twelve varietals (grape types), along with sparkling wines and dessert wines. Hundreds of grape varieties are used to make wine around the globe. In these sections I focus on the grapes used to make the wines people most often consume on a regular basis, in still, sparkling, and sweet or dessert styles. Within the categories of white and red, the varietals are arranged in order of popularity and prestige in the wine world. Each journey presents a practical approach to understanding wines made from the grape type, interpreting varied styles, and applying those insights to pairing the wines with food. But first, here's an explanation of the itinerary for each journey and how to follow the road map!
WINE-GROWING AREAS First I look at the countries, regions, states, appellations, and subappellations where the grape is grown and wines are produced. Tables showing the wine-growing areas for each varietal can be found in the chapter titled “Principal Wine-Growing Regions.” These tables list U.S. regions first, followed by other areas in order of importance. These lists aren't exhaustive; they emphasize what is commercially produced and widely available.
VINTNER CHOICES This section lists the fundamental options and decisions facing a winemaker and his or her team that determine the style, taste, and flavor of the wine. Many of these choices are addressed as comparative