1/9/08 Food & Wine 2

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Where do we begin when pairing food and wine? That's the question on today's Vine to Wine. Of course when selecting a wine for your meal the safe choice is white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat. But that can be a bit narrow and boring. What if you are vegetarian? So let's venture a bit further. When determining the wine to serve at your next dinner party; first consider the dominant ingredient component or flavor in the foods that you are preparing. This could be the food itself or the manner in which you prepare it. For example consider a marinated grilled chicken breast or fish. Is the dominant flavor from the marinade or is it from the char grilling? If it's the marinade then select your wine based upon the characteristics of those flavors. What is the focal point of the meal or dish? Is it the protein, the sauce, or the accompanying side dishes? When you determine the highlight of the food  then that is the most logical way to determine what the style of the wine to match with it. Wines will have similar dominant characteristics helping you to determine how they might best be paired up with food. The dominant flavor in the wine may be the taste of the grapes or the oak the wine was aged in. Usually a good rule of thumb is to pair higher acid foods with higher acid wines. Spicy smoked or marinated dishes seem to go well with fruitier styles of wine. Keep in mind the food and the wine should not overpower one another. But most of all - have fun. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.