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Selecting the Right Wine for You

Red or White, Dry or Sweet?

By Felicia Hodges

If you've ever sat and stared at the wine list in a restaurant trying to
decide which one would satisfy your palate, chances are you may only know
about the wines you've actually sampled before. You want to venture into
un-tasted territory, but you have no idea which wine to try. Are there any
hard and fast rules to help you find your way through the maze of wines on
the liquor store shelves?

Red or White?
"It used to be that red wines go with red meats like beef, and white wines
go with white meats like chicken and seafood," says Maureen Carr, who owns
and operates Harvest Wines and Liquors, Inc. in Newburgh, N.Y. "But people
don't go for that as hard and fast anymore. If you like red wine, you tend
to drink red wine and if you like white, you tend to drink white."

But, short of tasting every wine on the market, how do you know what
you'll like and what you won't? Most wine lists offer a brief description
of each wine, but since several terms appear over and over again, knowing
them will help the descriptions make more sense.

For example, wines are often categorized by their sweetness or lack
thereof. "Brut" wines are not sweet at all (referred to as "dry"), while
"demi sec" wines are fairly sweet. Terms like "off-dry" (very slightly
sweet), "extra dry" (medium sweet) and "sec" (slightly sweet) are also
used. Most champagnes are brut while dessert wines are demi sec. The term
usually appears on the label somewhere under the brand name.

Also, wines are often named after the type of grape they were made from
(like Merlot or Zinfandel) or the region in which the grapes were grown
(like Champagne, which is a region in France located about 90 miles
northeast of Paris). For the record, only bubbly made from grapes grown in
the French province should be called champagne. Most manufacturers call
other bubblies "sparkling wine."

The Wine Cellar
Listed below is a list of some of the more popular wines you might see on
the store shelves and restaurant wine lists. The descriptions should help
you better prepare to navigate any wine cellar in no time.

Chablis -- A dry, white burgundy table wine made in France. It is made by
blending a variety of white grapes and goes well with seafood or turkey.

Chardonnay -- A white, full-flavored wine that is very dry and smooth. It
goes well with salmon, tuna, shrimp, pasta with cream sauce as well as
fruits and nuts.

Dessert Wines -- These golden wines are made from grapes deliberately left
on the vine past harvest, which allows the sun to dry them out and
concentrate the sugar in them. Dessert wines are sweet and light and go
best with fruit or dessert cheeses.

Merlot -- A dry, red wine known for it's dark, rich, velvety flavor.
Similar to French Bordeaux, Merlot goes well with turkey, pork loin, beef
and meat stews.

Pinot Noir -- Described as delicate, rich and intense, this red wine is
actually made from black grapes with low sugar content but high acidity.
Known for its versatility, Pinot Noir goes well with lamb, grilled
sausages, roasted chicken or duck, pork, game birds and pasta.

Riesling -- Available in white or red, this wine usually contains low to
medium alcohol. The sweeter versions go well with crab, mussels, fish and
shellfish, while the drier Rieslings go well with corn on the cob and ham.

Rosé -- A light, red wine that ranges from brut to demi sec. Good with
grilled fish, grilled veggies and spicy, ethnic foods.

Sauvignon -- A full-flavored French wine that can either be white
("blanc") or red ("cabernet"). The blancs tend to be dry and go well with
spicy foods while the cabernets go better with lamb, duck, game meats and
aged cheeses.

Semillon -- A white wine that tends to have a low acidity level. Goes well
with shellfish, swordfish and grilled chicken. Similar in texture and
taste to French Bordeaux Blanc.

Sparkling Wine -- Although similar to French champagne, Italian Asti
Spumanti and Prosecco or Spanish Cava, these are any carbonated wines not
grown from Champagne, France grapes. They range from brut to demi-sec,
depending on the grapes that were used to make them. Sparkling wines go
well with smoked salmon and oysters.

Viogner -- A highly fragrant, dry, white French wine known for its
full-bodied flavor. Quite popular, Viogner wines prices have risen to $25
a bottle in recent years due to its "trendy" status. Goes well with
rosemary-flavored dishes.

Zinfandel -- A light to robust wine known for its versatility. Made in red
or white varieties (white Zinfandels, which are lighter, fruitier and
often off-dry are made by separating the grape's white juice from its red
skin), Zinfandels are high in alcohol content. Similar to Italian
Primitivo, these wines go well with soups, pasta, pizza, barbecued meats,
leg of lamb, cheeses and chocolate desserts.

Buying, Serving and Storing Wines
Carr suggests that the best way to buy wine is to decide what you like
(brut, off-dry, etc.) and look for wines types that match those tastes.
Once you find a type you like, try different brand names to see which one
you enjoy more.

"Prices range by the manufacturer, so that often is not the best guide,"
she says. "Experiment to find what you like. If you taste something at a
friend's or at a restaurant that you enjoy, remember the name and try it
again."

Once you take the wine home, however, it is important to remember that red
wines are best when served at room temperature (between 60 and 68 degrees
Fahrenheit) while white wines should be served chilled (between 45 and 50
degrees Fahrenheit). Most wines need to breathe before they are served,
which basically means that they need some contact with the air for a few
minutes before they are consumed. Tall, thin glasses (champagne flutes)
are best for sparkling wines and champagnes because their smaller surface
area near the top helps keep the bubbles from going flat.

All wines should be stored between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Storing
them on their sides helps keep the corks from drying out, which protects
the flavor.