Substitute For Chinese Cooking Wine

WINE IS TO BE ENJOYED

The most important thing to know about wine is that it is meant to be enjoyed. Drink what you like and with what you like. Life is complicated enough without having to make a big deal about the one and only perfect wine to go with a food. If you enjoy red wine with fish, drink it, and if you enjoy white wine with beef, drink it. But if you are unsure, following the old adage will rarely mislead you: Red wines generally are best served with red meat and firm cheese; white wines are best served with fish, poultry and light vegetable dishes. Sweet white wines are served with dessert.

So how do you go about finding wines that you like? Try new ones. Keep an informal record— especially of wines you don't like so you won't buy them again—that includes the price and place of purchase to simplify reordering. Get to know your local wine merchant or the manager of the wine department in your supermarket. Let him or her know what you like (and don't); over time it will become simple for the two of you to find something you'll prefer.

So where to start? If you are serving a Spanish dish, try an Albarino from Spain to go with it. Match a Malbec wine from Argentina with steak served with a chimichurri sauce, a French Chablis with a French dish. Excellent wines are being produced not only in France and the U.S. (especially the northwest regions), but also in Australia, Italy, Germany, Chile and New Zealand, as well as many other places.

A particular wine's quality depends on several factors, the most important being the skill of the winemaker and the quality of the grape that year, which depends as much on the weather as farming practices. This explains why some vintages (years) are better than others—even those coming from the same winery.

Wines are named after the predominant grape used or the region that produces them. Some of the world's finest wines are made in the Burgundy region of France, where both red and white wines are made. Champagne is produced in the Champagne region of France. Sparking wines produced elsewhere cannot be called Champagne.

Knowing a little about the character of the grapes that produce wine helps in the selection, too.

Following is a list of some of the most popular types of wine:

WHITE WINES

BLANC FUMÉ: A light wine with herbal, grassy overtones; slightly acidic. Many California vintners reverse the name, calling this type of wine Fumé Blanc. Made with the sauvignon blanc grape and therefore very similar to that wine.

CAVA: A sparkling wine from Spain, usually made using the same method as Champagne. It can run from dry to sweet and is popular as an aperitif, a lunch or dinner wine, and as a dessert wine.

CHAMPAGNE: Sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France that undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The wine of celebrations, but also good as an aperitif or with dessert. Sweetness varies from extra dry to slightly sweet.

CHARDONNAY: A full, rounded wine with toasty, buttery, vanilla and green apple flavors. Made from white burgundy grapes and produced in all major winemaking regions of the world.

CHARMAT: Not a wine but a method for making sparkling wines, developed around 1910 by a Frenchman, Eugène Charmat.While it is a faster and less expensive method than "méthode Champenoise,"it can still produce excellent wines, far superior to "bulk process," where carbon dioxide is simply pumped into still wine (the way carbonated soft drinks are made).

GEWÜRZTRAMINER: A fruity, medium- to fullbodied wine with the flavors of coconut, papaya, and lychee, as well as allspice. Made from grapes of the same name, the pungent wine is also popular in Alsace, Germany and Eastern Europe. California makes good Gewürztraminer wine.

PINOT BLANC AND PINOT BIANCO: Citrus-tasting, medium-bodied wine with slightly nutty, spicy flavors. The grape used to make this wine is related to the famous pinot noir grape. California winemakers use this pinot grape to make Muscadet.

PROSECCO: Sparkling wine made in Italy. Excellent as an aperitif, at a celebration or with food.

RIESLING: Light- to medium-bodied wine with overtones of green apples, lime, honey and sometimes
mint. Made mostly in Germany from Riesling grapes, but also made in Alsace, France, Austria, Eastern Europe, Australia and California, as well as elsewhere.

SAUVIGNON BLANC: Light-bodied, herbal-tasting, acidic wine with overtones of green peppers and limes. The sauvignon blanc grape is mixed with others to make wines such as Graves and Pouilly-Fumé.

SPUMANTE: The Italian word for sparkling.

RED WINES

BEAUJOLAIS: A light-bodied wine with fruity flavors, reminiscent of summer berries, plums, cherries and spices. Made mostly in the Burgundy region of France, Beaujolais is one of the best-known wines in the world. Beaujolais Nouveau is
a new wine bottled without aging and should be consumed within a few months of bottling.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON: A medium-bodied, woodsy wine with the flavors of blackberries, vanilla, herbs and Cassis—sometimes with hints of chocolate. Some of the best California wines are made from cabernet grapes. Also made in Australia, South America and Eastern Europe.

CHIANTI: A light to medium, earthy wine, tasting of oak, cedar, black cherries and spices. It is made with a blend of grapes, primarily sangiovese, and named for the Chianti region of Tuscany in Italy. It is made also in California and Argentina.

MÉDOC: A medium-bodied wine with earthy, cherry flavors and smoky overtones of herbs and spices. This wine is from the Bordeaux region of France.

MERLOT: A medium- to full-bodied wine, tasting of plums, cherries and herbs, as well as vanilla and smoke. Wine made with merlot grapes come from France, California, Washington state and Australia. The wine is often used for blending.

PINOT NOIR: Medium- to full-bodied earthy wine with flavors of cherries, plums, leather and spices. Wines made with the pinot noir grape are among the most lauded wines of Burgundy. This wine is also made very well in California, the Pacific
Northwest and Australia.

ZINFANDEL: A medium- to full-bodied wine with flowery overtones, also tasting of spices, berries and prunes. Nearly all are made with zinfandel grapes from California.

Most red wines taste best at room temperature but take the temperature of your room into consideration. Bottles of red wine left in an ultra airconditioned room for several hours might be too cool for full flavor.The same wine stored in a hot kitchen might not be at its best, either.

Should you open red wine ahead of pouring to let it breathe? Today most experts believe many red wines are made to be opened and poured right away. Very old wines may benefit from being allowed to breathe for an hour or so before drinking, but sometimes the flavor changes quickly and for the worse. Ditto very young wines. If you do take a first sip and think the wine needs a little time to open up, a gentle swirl in the glass and 5 or 10 minutes should do it.

Chill white wines for an hour or so before serving, taking into consideration how many bottles you are putting into your refrigerator at once. Champagne, which goes well with nearly everything from a main course to dessert, is best chilled. Stemmed glasses look festive and are especially good for white wine since you can hold the glass by the stem and avoid warming the wine with the heat of your hands. Stemmed glasses with a bowl shape allow you to swirl the wine gently and admire the color and then the bouquet. Small, so-called European wine glasses have no stems and are an excellent choice for a casual lunch or get-together.

STORING WINE: Store all wine at cool room temperature. Try to find a cool cupboard or area of the cellar, pantry or utility room. Distance the wine from the oven and stove, where temperature fluctuations are most likely. It's equally important not to store it near the furnace or hot water heater.

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