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Red for meats; white for fish:

Wine

Crafting a perfect marriage between food and wine

March 6, 1996
Web posted at: 7:30 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Liz Weiss

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- For some, the art of pairing food with the right wine can be, well, just that: an art. But with a little help, says Chef Daniel Bruce of Boston Harbor hotel, choosing the right wine can be less intimidating.

Daniel Bruce

At the Boston Harbor's annual wine festival, Bruce is a matchmaker of sorts. Before each event, he swirls, smells, and tastes the featured wine, then takes copious notes. His jottings help him create dishes with similar flavors, he says.

"We taste wines. The flavors come through and I try to match foods that contrast and compare and meld with wine," Bruce says.

For example, the woody, black currant tones of the Merlot wine enhance a dish of seared duck on charred brioche with watercress and black currants. The richness of the Cabernets pair well with marinated venison over root vegetables.

bottles

"The food you pick to go with the wine really has to complement the wine," Bruce says.

For the most part, sticking with red wines for meat and white for fish is a pretty safe bet. But it's really the flavor of the sauce that dictates the perfect marriage between food and wine.

Pruscutti

Wine director Len Pruscutti says the same meat sauce, made in a slightly different way, could require a different wine.

Pruscutti should know. Folks looking for words of wine wisdom turn to this wine director of Martignetti's liquor store near Boston.

"If you have a chicken cacciatore with a red tomato sauce, you're probably going to use a red wine, perhaps a Chianti or something like that," Pruscutti says. "If you have it with a tarragon cream sauce, perhaps a chardonnay."

Some other advice from the experts: The wine should always be sweeter than the dish, especially at dessert time. And, if you're eating a hot cuisine like Indian or Mexican, Pruscutti recommends a slightly fruity wine, one with a bit of residual sugar "to act as a fire extinguisher for the palate."

But rules are sometimes meant to be broken. Choosing a bottle of wine for the meal is ultimately a personal choice.

Some prefer to have a seasonal wine agenda; that is, white wines in the summer and reds in the winter. Still others like beer with their Mexican food. The bottom line: your wine preferences rule.


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