Philpott - The World of Wine and Food

The World of Wine and Food

The World of Wine and Food

A Guide to Varieties, Tastes, History, and Pairings

Don Philpott

Rowman & Littlefield

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ISBN: 978-1-4422-6803-6 (cloth)

ISBN: 978-1-4422-6804-3 (electronic)

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Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgment

I have been privileged over the past fifty years to meet thousands of great winemakers and chefs around the world. This book is dedicated to all of them for giving meand countless othersso many fabulous tastes and flavors that are etched in my memory. I would also like to acknowledge all the staff at Antonios, especially Bobby and David. This has been the go-to place for my wife Pam and I for good food and wine for almost twenty years, and the only thing better than writing about good food and wine is, of course, eating it.

Introduction

Many wine drinkers would like to be more adventurous but are reluctant to experiment by choosing an unknown wine that may disappoint.

The trouble is that there is so much wine available. Wine drinkers have never had such choice. There are literally tens of thousands of wines and scores of countries around the globe producing themand shelf after shelf of different Merlots or Pinot Grigios can be a little intimidating.

How to choose the right wine is one problem, deciding on what to serve it with is another. Why do some wines taste better with some foods and why do other wines taste dreadful when paired with certain dishes?

The aim of this book is to provide the information needed so that people will feel empowered and ready to experiment with their wine selections and then be able to pair them with the right foods for a memorable taste experience.

The World of Wine and Food is unique in that it provides three easy ways of discovering thousands of wines which should be to your liking and then tells you which wines go best with which foodsand why.

First we look at the global wine scene. All the major wine-producing countries are included with descriptions covering the style and character of the wines produced.

Second, you can search by grape varieties. If you try a wine and like it, you can find out which grape variety was used to produce it. You can then check for other wines around the world made from the same grape variety or blend and produced in the same style. This immediately increases your repertoire of likeable wines by thousands of bottles.

Third, every wine listed has been given a number or letter symbol. This special coding system provides an at-a-glance reference to allow you to choose wines of a similar style from around the world.

So, if you have a favorite wine, you should now be able to choose hundreds or even thousands of others like it by selecting those made from either the same grape variety, or those produced with the same style and taste.

Having selected your wines you now need to know how best to enjoy them. Some wines are best enjoyed by themselves; others can turn an ordinary meal into a gastronomic feast.

The second part of the book looks at the major cuisines around the world. Major dishes are listed together with their main ingredients. This not only helps you decipher menus when traveling to unfamiliar countries but also gives you clues as to what wines to choose to go with particular dishes.

There is proven scientific data as to why certain wine-food pairings are so successfulSauterne with strawberries or Port with Stiltonand others are not. Hopefully, this book will help you make memorable pairings. However, while there are recommendations, there are no hard rules. Always drink the wines that you like to drink and with whatever you like to eat. Use this book to be adventurous, to explore, and to try something new. Above all though, enjoy!

Don Philpott

Have you ever wondered whether you would enjoy a red wine you have never tasted before? Have you ever bought a white wine new to you and found it a little too dry, or too sweet?

Of course, white wines have more characteristics than dryness or sweetnessbut many people find their enjoyment of a particular white wine is largely dependent on this aspect.

Similarly, with red wines, how do you go about selecting a wine that matches the fullness of flavor you would ideally like for a particular occasion?

The following easy-to-use wine taste guidesone for whites and the other for redsprovide our first lesson in discovering wines from around the world that share some of the same characteristics.

The white wine guide covers the major white wines of the world, as well as ross, sherry, and vermouth, by using a scale of sweetness numbered 19. The lower the number the drier the wine, so number 1 signifies very dry wines like Chablis and Muscadet, while number 9 indicates maximum sweetness, in wines such as Malmsey Madeira and Trockenbeerenauslese. The numbers in between span the remaining dryness-to-sweetness spectrum, helping consumers identify the white wines they are likely to enjoy the most.

The red wine guide works in a slightly different way, using five categories from AE. These categories identify styles of red wine in terms of total tastein other words, the impression they give to the palate.

They start at A with wines comparable to Beaujolais or light German reds, and equally enjoyable with or without food. At Ethe other end of the scaleare the bigger and more concentrated styles with a greater sensation of depth and fullness. These wines, like Shiraz from Australia and Barolo from Italy, are often more suitable for drinking with food.

The world of wine is very complex and there can be variations due to winemaking techniques from the taste suggestions in the guide. Hungarian Tokay, for instance, comes in varying degrees of sweetness, while the more expensive fine winesthose that go on maturing in the bottlechange in complexity and cannot adequately be covered by this taste guide.

The vast majority of wines, however, do fit happily into one or the other of the taste guide categories, and you should be able to find the ones to suit you by playing the letters and numbers game in the following pages.

Wine Guide Code