by K Lochery

Created on: October 25, 2008   Last Updated: January 02, 2012

If you are holding a party and are wondering what wines you should ideally serve with which foods, I am going to make your life a little easier! There are no real, set in stone rules, of course, and a lot of it is down to personal preference. However, there are a few combinations of certain wines with certain foods, that are thought highly of when they are combined well.

To start with, I shall look at white wines. In particular, Chardonnay. This can come in both still or sparkling varieties and comes from three main places. These are Australia, New Zealand and California. Chardonnay tends to be slightly more wider bodied than most other white wines and as a general rule, should be paried with meals that consist of chicken or fish.

Sauvignon Blanc originates from Bordeaux in France and has a slightly "grassy" flavour to it. It can be fairly spicy, with a rather pungent aroma and can be drunk either young or matured. The best foods to pair with this wine are dishes that contain seafood or poultry, very much like the Chardonnay, but it can also be drunk with cheese or salad meals and also meals that contain peppers.

Riesling is another white wine, but this one, as the name suggests, originally comes from Germany. These days, however, you can buy Riesling that comes from California, Oregon, Italy, Russia, South Africa and Australia. This wine has rather varied tastes, depending on where in the world it comes from, but generally tends to be either rather dry or rather sweet. The sweet versions consist of apples, peaches and apricot flavours, whereas the dry varieties are more lemon and herbs. Again, another wine that goes well with chicken and fish, but can also be drunk with most pork dishes.

Chenin Blanc, coming from all over the world, but most specifically France, California and South Africa is available in both sweet and dry varieties, and this depends very much on the time that the grapes are harvested. Again, going well with chicken and seafood, it can also be eatedn with spicier rice dishes.

Pinot Blanc, a wine that is very much compared to Chardonnay is a rather dry wine, again combining taste and smells of apples and other spices. It is quite acidic in taste and tends to go rather well with salty and sweet foods. To enjoy this wine the most, it is best drunk wine, from the regions of France and California.

Pinot Grigio, one of the most popular wines of today´s society, tends to come from the US and also Italy. It is best drunk after a couple of years

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