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Originally Posted by corn18
Is this why some wines really don't agree with my wife? I would love to learn more about wine. On our trip to Africa, we used a sommelier at every meal we could and man, did they know their stuff. Made everything so nice. A $500 bottle of wine with the wrong food tastes like utter crap. A $20 bottle of wine with the right food is magical. I do still have my taste for wine sans food (Caymus, Stags Leap Artimus, Shafer 1.0). But they don't always taste good with a lot of foods.
So, after all that yammering I did, where can we get started on this? We both love wine and food and want to learn more.
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The answer to your questions could span 5 pages, but let me try for a really high level summary here.
To begin with, your wife is most likely reacting to sulfites within wines. Most labels don't tell you the percentage of sulfites added - they just say "Contains sulfites"...but some wines actually point out they contain no sulfites. In addition, some wines are labeled "Organic" and that can help.
Now - on to the fun part; food/wine pairings! Let me start by giving you a couple of really good tips for enjoying any wine:
1. Make sure it's served at the right temperature. I hear too many people make the mistake that red wines "should be served at room temperature" or white wines should be pulled directly from a cold fridge. Wrong. Serve red wines stored at about 60 degrees. White wines should be served slightly warmer than the temperature in your fridge - about 50 degrees. Too cold, and some of the flavors are lost.
2. Just about all red wines benefit from decanting prior to enjoyment. Most people pop the cork and pour to drink, either alone or right with food. Aerating using available devices does help, but not as well as decanting it for about 30 minutes before serving.
Please consider these pairing ideas as highly general, but enough to steer you in the right directions. I'll try to include both New World as well as Old World equivalent wines...
From your listed favorites, you prefer Napa Cabs. These generally are intense fruit forward with structured tannins that provide a lush and lingering finish and you are right - they are awesome enjoyed alone. But ideal pairing for these are with any red meat dishes and you're golden.
Since you like Napa Cabs, you can try their "Old World" equivalent to pair with red meat - think Bordeaux from France, or Super Tuscans or Montelpulciano from Italy.
If you like BBQ, this genre has a sweet and spicy taste profile - pair these dishes up with Malbecs, Shiraz, or Chotes-du-Rhones.
For burgers, try a Syrah.
If you enjoy earthy profile dishes, such as mushrooms or truffle dishes - pair with a nice Pinot Noir (since you like Napa Cabs, I recommend you stick to Pinots from the Russian River Valley in California - these are not as light as an Oregon Pinot Noir). Their equivalent in Old World wines include Beaujolais or Red Burgundy wines which are actually Pinot Noir grapes too. Go to a Tempranillo from Spain for a similar profile.
Everyone pairs Chianti with Italian dishes, and actually within the Chianti family you can have light to pretty medium bodied wines. I like a medium chianti or even a Barbaresco with red sauce pastas, but another favorite of mine are Barolos from the Piedmont region and these pair with Italian dishes beyond pasta. Italian wines need a whole page to fully explore pairings, but in addition to red sauce dishes, you also have very rich pasta dishes such as pappardelle with a veal ragu sauce - these pair up nicely with a Montelpulciano d'Abruzzo or Amarone (this is one of my favorite varietals from Italy - I suggest you try a bottle!).
For lighter meat dishes dishes, such as turkey or pork I like a red Zinfandel or again, a good Pinot from Calinfornia. I actually don't know much about a similar profiles to a Zin from other countries...
Let's move on to whites.
For lighter fish dishes (lemon sauce or no sauce for example) or even fish tacos, a great choice is either a Pinot Grigio, or even a Spanish Alborino.
For fish dishes with more rich sauces, try a nice Chardonnay. Here's the thing about Chardonnays though - you can either have the "butter bomb" (my preferred style, which is medium to heavy bodied) or the citrus style - it depends on where it's made. Or you can go with a Chablis from France.
For appetizer platters that are dominant with cheeses, I like a good Rose. They're versatile and can even hold their own with salamis or pates.
For turkey and pork dishes, if you aren't going red, you can find a nice Savignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay or even a Pinot Gris.
And here's my last two cents - you are also right to point out that a $20 wine will taste much better than a $100 bottle when paired properly. In general, paying way more for a bottle of red or white wine doesn't mean it tastes that much better than a $35 counterpart - you may be paying for a smaller vintage, or boutique label, etc. I find the sweet spot of wines at liquor store prices to be between $25 - $80, depending on the wine. Expect to pay double those prices at restaurants.
Man, I only scratched the surface in the most general terms, but again maybe this will help get you started. If you start to see how a good wine paired with the right food or event can make a big difference, I recommend this book from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Find-Your-Win...1655149&sr=8-7
And last but not least, while I provided some general pair guidelines above, there is nothing wrong with pairing a wine you like with a food you like. Sure, some wines DON'T pair at all with some foods, but that is usually the exception, not the rule. Enjoy.