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Each to his own ... wine
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Wine has the ability to give a star performance on any occasion. You simply need to understand the nature of the occasion, give careful consideration to your guests and choose the most appropriate bottle.
This is not a difficult task, as long as you are able to put yourself in your guests' shoes and imagine what kind of wine is going to work best. |
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What is the best approach for that delicate candlelit dinner, when he/she has to impress him/her? The problem is that generally neither party has yet had a chance to form a clear idea of the other's tastes, so circumspection is the best policy.
The wrong choice could signal the premature end of an otherwise promising relationship.
So a bit of playful teasing of the emotions is what's called for: if it is the season of nouveau wines, kick off with a youthful bottle with a fruity fragrance and intense but lively color. This is a first tentative approach at sweetly exploring your potential partner's preferences, before throwing caution to the wind and opening a bottle of passito from Pantelleria (Italy's southernmost Island).
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It is a completely different matter when it comes to reconciling the various tastes of many guests seated around your table for get-togethers with family or friends.
The tip here is not to risk overly daring food-wine combinations, because there will invariably be someone ready to criticize your choice. It is best to stick with classic solutions (although you can, naturally, serve more than one wine), following the golden rule that light wines are served before stronger ones.
It is important not to feel obliged to serve any wine brought by guests as a gift; often such wine has nothing in common with your menu, so you should simply thank whoever brought it and suggest you enjoy it together at the first possible occasion. If you plan to serve fish, perhaps a first course of Vermicellini with leek and prawn cream, then opting for a Vermentino di Gallura or a Verdicchio dei castelli di Jesi is bound to be a success, while in the case of meat and consequently first courses with a strong flavour, then the obvious choice is a red wine. A dish such as Ziti with minced meat ragout and aubergines is excellent with a Barolo, or else one might opt for a Sangiovese that has been aged for a couple of years or yet again an Aglianico del Vulture, a fine wine from Basilicata by and large appreciated even by those not familiar with this variety.
Finally we come to the spumante that rounds off the meal: the joy and torment of every grand family get-together, opinion is always divided here, also because the wines produced by local wineries often do not exactly impress with their quality. The best advice is to follow your menu closely and invest in a good Italian spumante or else look at alternative solutions, for example a good dessert wine.
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If the gastronomic gala is to be of an entirely vegetarian nature, a decision taken in consideration of your guests' eating habits, there is no need to panic but, as we have already advised, always give careful thought to the various dishes that make up the lunch or dinner.
A dish of Tortiglioni with artichoke julienne will go well with a white wine such as a Pinot blanc, whilst one might opt instead for a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo to accompany a dish such as Basilicata-style Rigatoni.
The same applies to second courses. A typical "friggione", an Emilian dish of stewed onions and tomatoes flavoured with a hint of pepper with just the right degree of spiciness naturally calls for a Barbera dei Colli Piacentini, but if you've just served up Parma-style aubergine, it is tempting to be a little more daring and choose perhaps a Cabernet di Breganze (Veneto).
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When it's time for an aperitif and your friends seek solace, do not hesitate: make sure you have a bottle of fragranced Traminer aromatico del Collio from the Alto Adige region to kick off what's bound to be a memorable evening.
Keep it simple when it comes to nibbles, with just a few Pantelleria capers, some black unstoned olives and shavings of very mature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
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It is a different matter when it comes to dinner with old friends, a ritual that is exempt from conventions and which gives free rein to propose alternative, fun pairings of food around which to plan the evening.
For example you might want to go for a menu dominated by a single ingredient, say onion, served fried as a starter, in pasta with a dish of Mezze Maniche Rigate with courgettes and onions, stewed with chicken for a second course and, properly purified in white wine (only white spring onions are suitable for this purpose), and then dipped in bitter melted chocolate for dessert.
With this kind of menu you'd be justified in being adventurous with wine, selecting a Lambrusco to go with the fried onion, and a fresh Greco di Tufo (Campania) to go with the pasta. The second course calls for a more demanding wine, perhaps a Croatina delle Colline novaresi (Piedmont), a red that deserves greater recognition. And what about the spring onions dipped in melted chocolate? An Italian spumante such as a Franciacorta (Lombardy). Tasting is believing.
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The classic girls' supper night is a riotous occasion involving talk, gossip and, on a lesser scale, nourishment. So forget all about exquisitely planned menus: professional gossipmongers can't afford to indulge in calorific spreads.
Why not opt for Fusilli with swordfish and scamorza cheese accompanied by a Tocai Rosso dei Colli iberici (Veneto)?
This kind of evening calls for a subtle, intriguing dessert, for example strawberries with traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena.
Guaranteed the evening will simply fly by...
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