The secret to really good food and wine pairing is simply to trust your taste buds. Follow your instincts; if the meal is not working together in perfect harmony, then there's probably a component that shouldn't be there. For those who may not have the most distinguished palate, here are some basic guidelines to steer your dining experience into utopia. Wine is the final ingredient that makes any meal really take off and realize greatness...sorry beer lovers!

Rules of Thumb:

1. Don't Outshine the Food-The wine you drink should compliment your meal, not overpower it. With an extravagant meal pair a good, but subtle wine...and if you want the wine to be the star, simplify your food, purposely making it second fiddle.

2. Acid is a Good Thing-Acidity is the key in great wine pairing. Acid in a wine can pronounce the flavors of individual ingredients, cut down rich, fatty, oily or salty foods, and refresh your palate. It acts like the lemon wedge on your plate; one squeeze and the whole dish is amplified!

3. Opposites Attract-Having two contrasting profiles can create an amazing balance. Spicy food (i.e. Indian, Korean BBQ, Thai) goes wonderfully with a sweeter wine, such as Riesling or Gewurztraminer, or for reds, a nice fruity Zinfandel or Grenache. Salty foods go with sweet wines as well; it kills off a lot of the excess sodium. Like a chocolate-covered pretzel...it just works!

4. Stick With Your Own Kind-It may sound obvious, but generally a specific regional cuisine will pair well with a wine from the same country. For instance, pairing Sicilian food with a Chianti Classico or Super Tuscan is the perfect match. It's synergy when you eat Prime Rib with a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Spanish Albariño with Paella, or French Burgundy with Coq au Vin.

5. Tannins like Fat-When you have wine with heavy tannins (those things that make your mouth dry and your lips pucker), it's good to eat something high in protein, fat, and with a slight bitterness (i.e. sharp cheeses, arugula, grilled meats); it cuts the richness of the meal right in half.

6. The Alcohol Matters-High alcohol wines carry so much weight (i.e. Zinfandel, Dessert Wines) that if you pair them with a super-heavy meal, you will need to be rolled out of the restaurant on a two-wheeler. Full-bodied, high alcohol wines are usually harder to pair with a complete meal because they overwhelm a lot of different foods. Many sommeliers have an easier time pairing low to medium-bodied wines because they can accompany many more options.

There are some foods that are very difficult to pair with wine, due generally to a bitter, tart, or metallic taste. Common examples are asparagus, cauliflower, artichokes, certain fish and shellfish (due to high levels of iodine), and egg yolks (they coat the tongue, blocking flavor). Wines with a lot of oak are also very tough to pair with food; they go best with grilled, smoked, or charred dishes that resemble that oaky flavor.

FYI: When cooking with wine, never use actual "cooking wine", it has added salt. Always cook with wine that you would drink, or that you will be drinking with the meal. Careful cooking with sweet wines because they can add residual sugar to your dish, and on the other end, if your cooking with an overly tannic, high oak wine, you could notice an added bitterness to what your making.

My Favorite Pairings:

-Rack of Lamb w/ Oregon Pinot Noir

-Filet Mignon w/ California Cabernet Sauvignon

-Seared Scallops w/ New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

-Pasta Bolognese w/ Italian Barbera d"Alba

-Thai Shrimp w/ German Riesling

-Cheese Plate & Nuts w/ Aged Tawny Port

Written by: Erin Landsberg