Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match

Wine aficionados tossed out the old red-with-meat, white-with-fish rule ages ago. That opens up vast possibilities, but may also create some trepidation when it comes to pairings.

Let's start with a sometimes forgotten premise: Wine is food. Picking a good wine to go with a meal is simply another component of creating a palatepleasing palette of flavors and textures. Wine changes the taste of food, just as food changes the taste of wine, so the trick is to make sure the two complement one another.

Also remember that taste is subjective. You can't please all of the people all of the time so go with what you like.

Karen King, sommelier at New York City's Union Square Café, says on starchefs.com: "First ask yourself, do you want your meal to be about the food, with a wine accent, or about the wine as the star attraction? If it's about the food, choose a wine that won't overwhelm it - not a California cabernet with the Dover sole! Remember that a region's cuisine is a natural for the wines of that place."

On the same site, Greg Harrington, master sommelier and founder of Gramercy Cellars in Walla Walla Wash., says: "You can break 90 percent of all whites into two camps: wines that are aged in oak and wines that are not. If a wine is aged in oak, think of it like butter. If you can put butter on the food, the pairing will work. Wines without oak should be thought of like limes. If you can put a lime on the food, the pairing will work."

Mike Newes, a Coldwell Banker real estate salesman who also works parttime at Total Wine, says, "The most important thing is to drink wine that you like. There is absolutely no reason to drink a wine because it should go with a food."

With a mild appetizer, try a light white, such as a pinot grigio, he says, but a more boldly seasoned appetizer calls for a heartier choice.

"If you're eating Indian satay," he says, "then you're looking at a pinot noir or a zinfandel."

Fort Myers foodie Janice Kemp says, "Either get flavors that go hand in hand or that are totally different. I like hot and spicy food with a sweet wine for contrast. A sweeter rose or sparkling shiraz is perfect with Thai or spicier fish flavors, like island fare.

"Separate elements create real magic. When entertaining savvy educated food/wine people, try a spicy tuna tartare with a riesling or a sweet something that mixes with the food. Do it intentionally to mess with people. I first tried this dish in Maui with an Australian traminer riesling by Rosemount Estates and the two together were great, although the guests thought it was nuts!"

Another Kemp tip: "Add the wine in with the cooking and serve the rest with meal. Use it in the sauce or deglaze the pan you sautéed the vegetables with. It adds subtle nuances. How can it be bad?"

Ubiquitous local chef Ruth Cohen says, "The wine shouldn't be too big in flavor to kill the food or be too weak and be overpowered. For me it needs a little je ne sais quoi. Sometimes I feel like drinking Spanish or Italian wines, but I don't need that cuisine to have that wine. Lamb goes well with these wines. I'm an Old-World girl, not California-driven with wine.

"I was with friends recently and we were enjoying a nice malbec with Drunken Goat cheese and apples and garlic toast, and then broke out an amarone because these were the wines that we like and they were pretty cool together. There was a definite difference when it got to the amarone. With appetizers we like pinot noir, because it is food friendly, also a good Argentinean malbec or Spanish Bierzeo. For a white wine. I like sauvignon blanc, Rueda and albarino, because these are mostly lighter-bodied whites."

The bottom line, says Newes: "Experiment a bit, because when you find wines that you like, they will lead you into the pairings automatically."