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