If you’re planning to celebrate Valentines Day with a dinner, I’d like to share how it’s not just about knowing how to pair white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat.

It’s much more than that but without getting too complicated, I’ve compiled a list of wines you can choose that would make you look like a pro – or at least start your endeavor on learning about what goes with what.

Chicken or Pork

Think citrus, grapefruit, maybe even flowery.

· Sauvignon Blanc

· Viogner

· Chardonnay

· Pinot Noir

· Pinot Grigio

Veal, Hen

Think Light on the palette, dry and dissipates fast

· Pinot Noir

· Dry Chardonnay

· Pinot Grigio

Pasta

Pasta has many variations and your wine should be selected appropriately

Vegetarian Red sauce

Light but round with flavor – able to hold it’s own

· Pinot Noir

· Zinfandel

· Chianti

Meat Sauce

Wine should be hearty, full bodied and round with robust flavors to stand against tomato sauce and meat that are going to be up against it.

· Cabernet Sauvignon

· Merlot

· Amarone

· Brunello di Montalcino

· Syrah

White Sauce

Whatever is in it, as long as the sauce is white, all is good in the world. The wine should be as light as the sauce, no matter what has been smothered with it because the sauce is what rules here.

· Chardonnay

· Pinot Grigio

· Sauvignon Blanc

Fish

As a standard, the way the fish is cooked will determine which direction you should go. However, depending on how strong your fish is, allow your server or the butcher to recommend a wine if you’re choosing a strong fish.

For basic salmon and white fish, here ya go!

Fried

Think fish n chips and beer if you’re going to go for fried fish. With fried fish, you want that bubbly just as much. (Why not wear a fancy dress to a casual party?) With fried fish, try:

· Prosecco

· Sparkling Wine

· Chardonnay

· Gewurztraminer

· Riesling

Grilled

You can have it your way with grilled fish. However, the most popular way to have grilled fish is with a little lemon, a little dill, lemon and pepper, right? Here are some great options for that.

· Chardonnay

· Sauvignon Blanc

· Pinot Grigio

· Riesling

· Pinot Noir

Other Alternative Flavors:

Spicy

One of the few times where Syrah comes to play is with spicy foods. We literally save our bottles of Syrah for spicy foods. It just has that backbone to stand up to anything spicy. However, there are other choices too.

· Syrah

· Buttery Chardonnay

· Merlot

Citrus

If you’re really giving whatever you’re having a kick of citrus whether it’s chicken or fish, try not to drown out the flavor of your fish with your wine because that can happen. Then you’ll tell your friends that the wine you had from Sonoma for $100 bucks a bottle was the worst wine you ever had. Well, are you sure you knew how to pair it?

· Sauvignon Blanc

· Viogner

· Riesling

· Pinot Noir

The Meat! Steak / Ribs / Meatloaf (for meat and potato kind’a lovers)

Meat is something full, luxurious, like velvet on a rainy day. It can literally implode any delicate artistic wine so make sure you know darn well what kind of wine to have with any red meat because the list is all the same. Think big, round, robust wines.

· Cabernet Sauvignon

· Merlot

· Zinfandel

· Amarone

· Brunello di Montalcino

This list is primarily wines from California with some wines we had in Italy. The names of these wines is actually the grape so as long as you know your grapes, you’ll be fine. That’s how to really know what to have and when to have it.

And for those who say these rules don’t apply is just a matter of choice. I like to fully enjoy the complete work of what has gone into creating these works of art. By choosing the right kind of foods to eat them with, you’ll get the full flavors and finish of a good wine.

Did I leave any out?

Have a special Valentine’s Day. Even if you only tell your mom how much you love her.