Pick a pair, any pair
For vegetarians and meat lovers alike, the new philosophy is "drink what you like," no matter what food is on your table.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published May 4, 2005
Red meat, white meat, doesn't matter at all when Debra Nahali Wood is picking out wine for dinner.
She never ate meat, even before she drank wine. Nahali Wood grew up in a vegetarian family, and one that enjoyed wine. But "red meat, chicken, fish never meant anything to me," says the St. Petersburg nurse.
And now, she points out, the new adage is "drink what you like" for all wine-food pairings.
Nahali Wood and vegetarians simply got to that point earlier. As proof, though some might think vegetarian meals are light, white wine fare, dinners for Nahali Wood are most likely accompanied by her favorite reds. White wines are for first courses, or more likely the boat or the beach.
Indeed, many sophisticated wine aficionados don't sweat wine and food matching at all.
"Wine and food, they're a great pair," says Joel Butler, director of wine education for Beaulieu Vineyards and one of a handful of people worldwide who have earned the Master of Wine degree. "Drink the wine you like with the food you like."
He doesn't buy the old worries that some vegetables, such as asparagus, spoil wine. If food and wine don't taste good together, season the food with salt or a squeeze of lemon.
Elaborate wine matches with vegetables or any other foods don't worry Carolyn Wente, who has written several cookbooks as well as running her family's California winery and its restaurant. "Why not open a bottle of white zin, a sauvignon blanc and a pinot noir, put them all on the table and let people have their choice?"
Speaking for the vegetables, gourmet grower Lee Jones of Chef's Garden in Ohio says that vegetable meals are perfect for wine. "Do they go together? Like a sock and a shoe."
And so a love of wine is no problem for a vegetarian diet.
Some vegetarians who like wine do enjoy picking wines for various dishes. Nahali Wood sometimes balances flavors, sometimes contrasts them and occasionally follows the nationality of the food.
With foods that are salty, for instance, she'll look for a chardonnay that's rich and buttery if she wants white or a fully aged wine if she's drinking red.
Amy Cairns, a former vegetarian and the sommelier at SideBern's in Tampa, considers the weight and spice of dishes.
"A lot of vegetarian dishes are ethnic, Asian or Indian, and for them, riesling or a sauv blanc are great. Or a pinot noir." She notes that some vegetarians seek out brands that farm organically.
At the nation's top restaurants that appeal to vegetarians, from Nora in Washington to Greens in San Francisco, wine lists are as big and varied as at any gourmet restaurant or steakhouse. Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, which offers a $115 full-course vegetarian tasting menu, has an $85 flight of wines to match, from aperitifs, rieslings and pinot noir to late harvest dessert wines.
And you don't need to worry about red meat, white meat at all.
-- Chris Sherman can be reached at 727 893-8585 or sherman@sptimes.com