The other day I was watching a taped cooking show on TV, something I do for relaxation believe it or not, and the talking toque from the CIA (Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency) was assembling a fish dish containing fennel and other aromatic vegetables. As he finished, he said, "Now if I were serving a wine with this, it would be…"

" Sauvignon blanc" said he and I at the same moment.

This seemed somehow more pleasing than knowing the answer to a question on Jeopardy and I wondered why that particular wine had popped into my head. Why not Chardonnay or Riesling or Chenin Blanc or even Gewürztraminer? They are all white wines, why Sauvignon Blanc?

The reason is, I have tasted all those white wines and had the knowledge that Sauvignon blanc would complement the flavors in the dish. I had literally tasted the dish in my mind's palate and selected Sauvignon blanc from my wine quiver as the best wine taste to be on target. Now before you start thinking this winemaker has been spending too many hours tasting barrel samples in the cellar, let me tell you that you could do the same match up.

If you taste wines carefully, and really pay attention to what is happening in your mouth and the data coming to you through smell and sight, I mean if you really pay attention, you will know those wines by taste and how they are different from each other.

But Paul, you say, there are hundreds of Chardonnays , maybe thousands. True, and some are terrible and some are elegant and some are buttery and some are acid, but all come from the same grape and have some common varietal characteristics of flavor you should be able to use to classify and say in your mind's palate "THIS is what Chardonnay tastes like." The same with Riesling and oh my gosh, Gewürztraminer stands out like a red chili pepper. Maybe you should start with that one and see what I mean about a wine's varietal characteristics.

You see, most people drink wine and not very many taste it. Oh, they might give the glass a sniff and pause after their first gulp to say "Oh, nice!" but very few really savor the subtle nuances of (particularly white) wine. They are busy eating and talking. And that's cool, because that's why we make it.

But if you pay attention, you will be building your knowledge about specific wines and with knowledge, you can create dishes to complement your wines.

Paul Kreider