Google

Food - Wine Pairing Tips For French and Italian Wines


Many people are intimidated by the task of selecting wine in a fine restaurant. This article is intended to provide a simple guide that will enable anyone to feel confident enough to choose a wine that will impress their dinner guests. The focus is on French and Italian wines.

While there are no set rules for pairing wine with food, generally a full-bodied red wine should accompany rich and seasoned food. White wines are better suited for lighter fare.

These are some of my personal favorite wine and food pairings for French and Italian wines:

Beef = Amarone,
Cheese = Beaujolais,
Chicken = Chardonnay,
Cold Meats = Tavel,
Chile = Grumello,
Chinese Food = Soave,
Clams and Oysters = Champagne,
Duck = Pouilly-Fume,
Fish = Muscadet,
Ham = Pinot Grigio,
Lamb = Saint-Emilion,
Ossco Bucco = Barbaresco,
Pate = Saint-Veran,
Pheasant = Vino Nobile di Montepulciano,
Pork = Pouilly-Fuisse,
Red Sauce = Chianti,
White Sauce = Pinot Grigio,
Sauerbraten = Riesling,
Shell Fish = Gavi,
Steak = Gattinara,
Stew = Barolo,
Veal = Soave, and
Venison = Pomerol

In the end, it is really a matter of personal preference and what suits your palate. If your restaurant does not have these particular recommendations in their wine cellar, you can always ask the sommelier to recommend something comparable.

These suggestions should enable you to at least buy or order to the proper wine to accompany dinner. Of course, there is a lot more to know about ordering wine, wine tasting, wine production, and wine conversation.

Please feel free to email me at sales@thewinebook.com with questions on French or Italian wine. You may also visit my website at www.thewinebook.com for more information.

Angelo Cataldo is an avid wine collector with over 20 years experience in Italian and French wines. He has also travelled extensively in the wine producuing regions of Italy and France.

For those interested in learning more, Mr. Cataldo's book, The Wine Book, is the perfect beginners wine guide: short, easy to read, and small enough to take with you. In addition to food wine pairing examples, it includes wine descriptions you can use in conversation or at wine tasting parties, wine tasting tips, and information on Italian and French wine regions and production. The Wine Book is small enough to carry to a restaurant and refer to discreetly.

The Wine Book also includes checklists for tasting notes. This has made it a favorite give-away for wine tastings and events. Fine New Jersey Restaurants, such as Aldo's, The Brickhouse, and Pane and Vino have provided it to their customers for just that purpose.

MORE RESOURCES:

RELATED ARTICLES

Cabernet Sauvignon Wine
Cabernet Sauvignon is the grape responsible for the wines of Bordeaux's Medoc region, arguably some of the finest reds in the world. Cabernet Sauvignon performs well practically the world over, as long as it's not too cold, but in certain appellations in France, and more recently in California's Napa Valley, it produces wines that astonish with their richness and complexity.
Using Cooking Wine
Cooking wine is sort of a holdover from prohibition. People who grew up thinking Alcohol is Evil didn't want to have any in their homes.
Overcoming Red Wine Spills
Red wine spills can be a disaster whether they occur in your home or onboard your $43 million executive jet as members of our corporate flight attendant web community are quick to point out. Taking care of a spill is another thing, but we have discovered two "tried and true" solutions to the problem.
The Old Fashioned: Two Recipes of an Underrated Classic
Like many mixed drinks, the Old Fashioned has a number of variations and a history.It is one of the few cocktails that survived from the days of the Martini and the Manhattan.
The Mystery of Decanting
Decanting is a strange word to many people. Some do not even know what it means exactly.
Wine Etiquette With Ease
Correct wine etiquette makes the tasting experience much more enjoyable. Like most interests, there is a set of protocol that most wine lovers adhere to.
Whisky Syndicates
Whisky syndicates are groups of private owners and many have been around for years. The main purpose is to bring together a group of like-minded people to enjoy the benefits of cost sharing in order to invest in whisky casks and to eventually bottle for private consumption.
White Zinfandel Wine
White Zinfandel wine is a blush wine made in California from early-picked Zinfandel grapes. The red grapes are quickly separated from their skins during crushing and fermentation so that the resulting White Zinfandel wine is very light pink; thus White Zinfandel wines have far less color, alcohol and flavors than normally fermented Zinfandels.
Merlot Wine
Merlot wine is a rich, soft wine with the flavor of blackberries, beloved because it is seldom harsh and not as acidic as a Cabernet Sauvignon with which it is often blended. Merlot wine has the added advantage of being rich and supple but only moderately tannic and, therefore, wonderfully drinkable from early on.
The Ten Most Important Wine Label Terms
For the average wine consumer, there is a plethora of intimidation associated with wine buying. This is a feeling that is most often associated with not understanding wine labels.
If You Plan On Drinking, Do These Critical Things Before You Leave The House
Buy a BreathalyzerA Breathalyzer is a portable hand-held device in which you blow, that measures your blood alcohol level. Many good breathalyzers can be purchased on-line.
Wine and Your Health
During the 1990s, a physician voiced on a national TV show that drinking red wine reduces heart disease. It made all the headlines.
Uses of Mirror Tinted Contact Lenses
Mirror tinted contact lenses have become a topic of interest among many Americans. This is because the market for crazy contact lenses has continued to grow and be popular, so, as a result, contact companies are continually faced with making the next best thing.
The Stuff of Poetry - Mead
People have been drinking fermented beverages since the dawn of civilization. At first, the production of alcohol may have been accidental.
Tempranillo's Role As A New Varietal Wine In Australia
Tempranillo is the premium red wine grape variety from the Rioja region in Spain. It is now challenging Sangiovese as the up and coming star of the red varietal wine scene in Australia.
Rare Varietals Cure Wine Boredom
The future of the Australian wine industry will be shaped by a group of innovative grapegrowers and winemakers who are busily experimenting with new varieties in new regions.The phenomenal success of the industry in producing quality wine at competitive prices does not need recounting here.
DWI and Blood Alcohol Concentration: What does it mean?
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the elimination of alcohol in your blood. This is usually measured as the percentage of deciliters of blood.
Pairing Beer With Food
Pairing beer with the fine cuisine has recently come to the attention of many eating establishments as they try to cater to the 90's micro-brew crowd. No longer is wine considered the only drink fit for a succulent entree.
Tequila
It was once a ritual usually performed by a man. He would put some salt where the bottom of the thumb met his wrist.
Food - Wine Pairing Tips For French and Italian Wines
Many people are intimidated by the task of selecting wine in a fine restaurant. This article is intended to provide a simple guide that will enable anyone to feel confident enough to choose a wine that will impress their dinner guests.