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We've all heard that there are rules to selecting the right wine. Those rules are based on the type of meat or fish main course, cost, the snootiness factor and another less savory snobbery. Heck, I'm no snob when selecting just that right wine to go with my meal. I have 1 rule that fits no matter what's on the menu. But before I give you Franks rule of wine selection, let's review a few of the more recognized rules.
Red with meat, white with fish. Yea, this is a good direction to take all right. It's good if you like your meals color coordinated. Heck, I'm satisfied if my husband is color coordinated and don't really care if my meals are on a specific color spectrum.
Price determines quality. OK, I made this one up after having a wine steward get almost indignant at my wine selection because it didn't have the "nose" of a truly "good" wine. A nose, of course, is what's on people's faces that they look down on us less sophisticated wine connoisseurs. Apparently, wine also has a nose and it simply means the way it smells. The difference between us and them, however, is that we say smell and they say "bouquet." Well, la tee-da.
How about using the Sommelier of the restaurant to select your wine? If you get one with a sense of humor, this is an excellent way to find new wines to enjoy. A Sommelier is someone who is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional. They understand all the aging, grape selection, part of the country and winemaking techniques that basic wine drinkers like myself just aren't interested in studying about. A great sommelier will not focus on price but on what types of wine you enjoy. What you're eating will be considered but actually, a good Sommelier is looking to select a wine based on my 1 rule of wine selection.
That 1 rule of wine selection trumps everything else in picking a wine drink. That number 1 rule is ...
GET SOMETHING YOU LIKE AND ENJOY!
That's it! Who cares if it's expensive except the restaurant that gets the huge markup price. You're going to drink it and if the wine is something you've enjoyed before or on a previous special occasion, you will start to reminisce. You will begin to walk down memory lane and if that special someone you're dining with happens to be your lives partner of many years, they too will begin to remember back when. The romance is rekindled not by the wine but by the memories.
There is a certain magic to a wine that can be tied back into your own personal history. So what kind of wine goes with my chicken salad sandwich? I'll take the one I like...the one with the magic.
