Traditional Rules Obsolete: Sip Whatever You Please
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The traditional rules governing wine and food are simple: Red wine should be served with red meat, white wine with poultry and fish.
But those rules are obsolete, agree Vernon Cesta and Bill D’Amico. Nowadays, it comes down to personal preference.
“Any more, it’s anything goes. If you like white wine, you like white wine. There’s no one going to talk you out of it. There are white wines that go great with meat and the same thing with red wines and fish,” says Cesta, owner of Vernon’s Cafe in Niles and V2 in downtown Youngstown. “There’s no one correct way. It’s your way with what you like.”
Bill D’Amico, co-owner of Chalet Premier, agrees, saying that even rules about chilling wine are obsolescent.
“Drink wines the way you like them. If you like chilled [red] wine, even if the books say don’t drink it cold, then drink chilled wine,” D’Amico comments.
The change in rules – and how religiously they were followed – resulted from the entry of wine into the mainstream of U.S. diets. Michael Alberini, owner of Michael Alberini’s Restaurant and Wine Shop in Boardman, says Americans are becoming more educated about wine and how it can work to enhance a meal.
“Wine is, in a sense, food in itself,” Alberini says. “When you have the right atmosphere and the right meal and the right wine that works with the meal, it’s amazing to see the revelation of what we talk about so religiously come together.”
The most important thing someone can do, whether trying a new wine or learning to enjoy wine, Alberini says, is to ask questions.
“Don’t worry about intimidation. Whether you’re on a date or at a business meeting, ask questions,” he advises. “That’s the only way, through that experience, where you can grow your own knowledge about beer, spirits or wine.”
As the domestic wine market grows, so do the number of wineries looking to meet that demand. Over the past 20 years, the number has skyrocketed, including here in northeastern Ohio.
Alberini points to L’uva Bella winery in Lowellville as an opportunity for people to take their first step into appreciating wine.
While L’uva Bella doesn’t grow its own grapes, it’s still offers people a site to understand winemaking and experience the enjoyment the varieties it can provide.
Also furthering people’s education, not just on wine, but all alcoholic beverages, is the Internet.
“If you have any question about what’s new or popular, you can look it up. Sites will tell you where it’s from, what it’s similar to, what size [a bottle] is, where to order it from,” says Bobby Sonata, beverage manager at the Springfield Grille in Boardman.
Sonata has noticed that while his customers are generally more educated and more appreciative of traditional wines, they have turned toward wine blends – wine mixed with other wines or even other types of liquor – over the past year. Those have become popular, he says, because they can provide “an across-the-board experience.”
When it comes to ordering for small events, say a business meeting or a small birthday party, there’s no need to go overboard with a wine selection, Sonata adds.
“There are certain go-to wines. Those are the ones that probably 70% or 80% of people will enjoy. It won’t be too dry. It won’t be too sweet. You can get a nice cabernet or a nice blend. It’s something that’s not over-the-top,” he says. “You can get a great bottle of wine for $15. The price isn’t necessarily reflective of the quality. It all depends on where your taste lies.”
The wines people purchase at Chalet Premier, D’Amico adds, vary with the season. As winter approaches, bolder wines such as pinot noirs and cabernet sauvignons become more popular.
“It seems like in the summertime, people like to drink wines that you can chill. Things like chardonnays, pinot grigios, sauvignon blancs and some Rieslings,” he continues.
Like wine, beer sales are becoming driven by the seasons as the popularity of craft breweries explodes. Autumn is an especially diverse time of year as sales of summer beers such as shandies decline and autumn beers -- Oktoberfest and pumpkin-flavored brews -- replace them.
Then, usually in late October, Christmas flavors, which typically feature fruit or spice flavorings, begin to in stores according Ryan Zocolo, Chalet Premier store manager.
“Seasonal beers are more popular than ever,” he says. “In days past, there might have been an Oktoberfest beer here or a Christmas beer there. Now, there are literally tens and twenties of each kind of Oktoberfest, of pumpkin, of Christmas beer. There are seasonals for all times of the year,” D’Amico comments.
Also like wine, beer is easily paired with menus and can provide a similar experience that enhances the meal.
“You can get into all these different types likes stouts and bocks, but it’s still pairs. An IPA [India pale ale] will be better with say fish, but Guinness is going to go better with a cheeseburger,” the Springfield Grille’s Sonata says. “The flavors are still there and once you put it with that beer, you’ll know the difference.”
The best-sellers at Chalet Premier, Zocolo says, are IPAs, primarily because the craft beer industry gravitates to that style.
Alberini says he’s seen enthusiasm grow for all types of alcohol in recent years.
“I see that passion in making wine and I think it’s transcended to making beer and spirits. We’re truly seeing Americans becoming passionate about making them. You see all of these beer clubs and these micro-craft clubs,” he notes. “This country is really embracing it. It’s amazing.”
Alberini adds that people are starting to approach spirits with the same mindset they have for craft beers and smaller distilleries, such as OYO and Watershed in Columbus, which hope to break into the market by offering new takes on traditional liquors.
“Spirits used to be so one-dimensional. Your gins, for example, back in the day it used to be Beefeater or maybe Tanqueray, which came after. They were juniper-berry-driven with pine flavors and fragrances. Now they take on botanicals and things like that,” he comments.
“Over the years, people have gotten bored. Companies want to build on that foundation.”
Bourbons, Alberini notes, have also helped lead the charge on craft spirits.
“People are crafting with a lot of single-barrel bourbon, working with nuances that they haven’t taken on in the past. It’s not just the char, caramel profile on a lot of these bourbons. They’re becoming more dimensional in their flavor profile and fragrance profile,” he explains.
When it comes to spirits, people know what they like, Vernon’s Cesta says, and need little guidance in expanding their preferences.
But Sonata notes that mid-level spirits, especially vodka and whiskey, can be quite similar to top-shelf names.
“There’s stuff like Jewel of Russia [vodka] that’s $96 a bottle. You probably don’t need that. Get Stoli, which is $24 and it’s a decent bottle of vodka,” he advises. “When you get into whiskey, there’s [Seagram’s] VO Gold which is comparable to Crown Royal but half the price. They are a way you can get something good and it won’t destroy your wallet.”
What it ultimately comes down to, most agree, is preference. Also like wine, gone are the hard-and-fast rules of what alcohol should be paired with. But, Alberini advises, make sure that you’re willing to ask questions and have a good time.
“What seemed like a simple task can become clouded with confusion and reservations on if you’re going to pick the right [drink],” he says. “It’s not about the drinking of wine or beer or spirits or the eating of the food. It’s about the camaraderie that it brings. Amazing things that happen in the culmination of those two things.”
Pictured: Michael Alberini, owner of Michael Alberini’s Restaurant and Wine Shop in Boardman.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.