by Ted Onulak

Created on: July 03, 2008   Last Updated: July 05, 2011

The more the fascination with food and wine grows, the question becomes; did wine of a region evolve to compliment the regional food or did the food evolve to compliment the local wine. 

There is no simple answer to this age-old question.  Surely the consumption of food predates the production of wine, but the development of regional cuisine is more interlocked.  Climate and soil play the greatest role in the growing of grapes, as not every grape variety can be grown in every location.  However, in this modern era, many grape varieties have been transplanted with astounding results.  These transplants, modern technology and wine producing methods have turned places like Chile and Australia into winemaking powerhouses. 

To this end, continued globalization is making hard delineations between wines and wine producing regions increasingly more difficult.  Fine San Geovese is being produced in Washington State and the new wave of “garagiste” wine-makers in France are making wines which are coming closer in taste to California wines.  Thankfully though, the distinction has not been obliterated. 

In total agreement with the great wine enthusiast Robert Parker, wine is a food and for maximum enjoyment, it should be taken with other food.  Good chefs and sommeliers never taste a bottle of wine without immediately thinking about how to pair it with some dish or other.  Of course, a great deal of experimentation with wines one is not familiar with will extend the range of choices, but some basic principles can be learned to enhance the wine/food pairing experience. 

For the purpose of wine and food pairing, it is helpful to distinguish wines by two groups, which can be called New World wine, and Old World wine.  New World wines are from North America, South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  The Old World wines, of course, are from Europe. 

New World wines tend to have higher alcohol content and boast a more fruit-forward structure.  Though some may disagree, they are made to drink younger and should be paired with bolder, spicier food. 

Old World wines vary tremendously from region to region, but tend to be more complex, more tannic in structure and benefit from aging.  They also tend to vary in taste greatly from vintage to vintage do to centuries-old wine traditions and laws governing winemaking.  

Traditionally, everyone was taught that Red wine

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