On many dinner tables around the world, wine is food. It is as important as the appetizer that is brought forth, and savored better than most desserts served. There truly is no other experience like that of enjoying a good glass of wine with a good meal.

For centuries, pairing food with wine has been established as the best way to enjoy both the meal and the wine. The pairing can be a pleasurable experience and although many opinions and rules exist on which wines go best with what foods, I hold it to be a very personal decision.

It really has to do with you taste buds. Most of us that are wine drinkers certainly have our favorites. You know which ones I mean, the wines you don’t leave the store without. And most of the time, these are the wines we share with our favorite meals with. In a sense we are pairing food and wine. Perhaps we’ll drink a good Cabernet with our favorite Lasagna because to us, it’s the wine that best brings out the cheese. Or perhaps we enjoy Merlot with a good steak, knowing it’s richness may match the intensity of the meat.

My point is that the principles and reasons behind pairing are different for everyone, therefore depending on the direction taken, the pairing will be different. Traditionally, local wine was paired with local food, something that can still be enjoyed today. Whether our reasons for pairing are traditional, taste-oriented, or purely romantic, it is certainly the best to enjoy two of life’s greatest pleasures.

Here are a few of my recommendations when pairing food and wine. (Just in case you just can’t figure it out on your own. No specific suggestions are made, letting you decide which wines to try.)

Appetizers
I enjoy typical Italian with an appetizer. A good white or sparkling wine will open the taste buds and help enjoy that bruschetta. With blush wines becoming increasingly popular, these can be paired with a soup or salad appetizer.

Dinner
This is where the pairing can get a little tricky. Honestly I never have dinner with a white wine. There are, in my opinion, more variations of red wines that can be easily paired with every dish imaginable. This is again where the taste buds kick in. Blush wines are again a great choice for small, light meals, whereas the darker reds are a better choice for heavier meals.

Pasta – Typically Italian dishes in my opinion should be accompanied by a good wine, not the other way around. Cabernets are a great choice, as well as the Merlot mixes available in almost all labels.

Seafood – This is perhaps the exception to the red only rule during dinner. Although I enjoy seafood with a good Australian Shiraz, Sauvignon and Chardonnay are also good replacements.

Dessert
Although most of us may relate dessert with coffee, dessert wine does exist, and at times is very enjoyable. Most dessert wines are listed this way at your local liquor store, and come in all different tastes and sizes. When choosing a dessert wine, keep in mind your preferences in taste, and remember these wines are typically made for sipping.