Tone Down the Drama
Why less distinctive wines are more versatile with food
Posted: Mar 11, 2011 1:54pm ET
A recent comment from a reader, responding to my review of a wine-and-food match, made a lightbulb appear above my head. He asked whether a wine's ability to interact with food should be considered when we rate wines. "You must agree," wrote Vince Liotta, writing from Elmurst, Ill., "that some wines have more ability to do this than others."
Indeed I do agree. But it's not really an either-or situation where wines that drink best with more types of food should be considered superior. In my view, it is exactly the opposite. "It's true that some wines are more versatile," I wrote. "In general, the less dramatic and compelling the wines, the greater variety of foods they can match with, simply because there are fewer flavors and other characteristics in the wines to get in the way."
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