One of the differences in how we treat wine from the way Europeans do, is that they drink wine as just a part of the meal. It is not considered anything more than the beverage to be served with lunch or dinner. I use this example when I teach wine classes, that at most America dinner tables the question “what do you want to drink” (meaning milk, iced tea, Coke or water) is something rarely heard at a dinner table from across the pond. Wine is just naturally a part of the meal, even for youngsters, though it is watered down quite a bit. Wine hasn’t reached that degree in the States, though it is much more prevalent now than it was even ten years ago. Will it ever get to the point of replacing iced tea or Diet Coke? Unlikely, but more and  more people that I speak to in the wine section tell me that they are looking for a good inexpensive red or white to drink with dinner each night.

  As we talk to people more often about pairing wine with food it seems to pique our wine guests' interests in trying wines that are new to them. People who don’t usually try wines from, say, Tuscany will be very surprised at how different a bottle of Chianti tastes when matched with a food from that part of Italy. Chianti may not be the best wine to drink on its own, but paired with pasta and a red sauce you taste the wine as it was intended to be. The rules of red with meat and white with fish or chicken do have some validity, but for the most part drink what you like, though if you're cooking blackened trout and chicken a red wine can work just fine. If you buy a wine from a particular region in Europe, whether it is from along the seashore or more toward the interior of the country you can usually tell what type of foods go best with that wine. A wine from the mouth of the Loire River such as Muscadet, is a perfect match with the subtle flavors of the sea, i.e. oysters or fish. Go to the Rhone Valley and these fuller-bodied red wines are made for hard cheeses, roasted game with wild mushrooms and anything else that has big, bold flavors.

  Drinking wine with your dinner doesn’t have to be an intimidating venture or happen only when you go to a restaurant. Ask your wine professional for their opinion, tell them what you like, what you are serving for dinner and they will be happy to pair a wine that brings out the flavors in both the food and the wine. Don’t be afraid to experiment on your own either. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that wine can just be the part of your meal that happens to be served out of a bottle.

 Ken Amendola

Wine Supervisor, North Florida