We have experienced a very warm spring here in West By Golly and so I’ve taken extra precautions to keep this delicate body hydrated. As you may know, I consider water a last resort option, preferring instead to slake my thirst with liquids that not only soothe a weary body, but heal the spirit too.

Of course, the most transcendent of all liquids is wine and so I have been sipping a fair portion lately, particularly those that are lighter and more refreshing in style. Here are a couple, you should find particularly pleasing.

2009 Crios Rose of Malbec – ($12) This Argentinean wine, produced from Malbec, is a fuller styled rose, yet it is a delicate mouthful of fresh strawberries with enticing acidity. While the wine is rich and lush, it also finishes dry and would make an exceptional accompaniment to grilled Italian sausages or barbecue chicken.

2009 Emiliana Natura Sauvignon Blanc ($11) From Chile, this organically grown sauvignon blanc is full of citrus aromas with lemon/lime and herbal flavors. It is a light to medium-bodied wine with good balancing acidity and would be an excellent match to pasta in a basil pesto sauce.
***One of Charleston’s most complete selection of wines (and spirits) can be found at The Liquor Company in the Patrick Street Plaza. I’ve mentioned this establishment before along with a few other places in town that not only offer a great selection of wine, but also expert advice.

Other notable shops that provide that added dimension are the Wine Shop at Capitol Market and the Kroger store at Ashton Place. The folks working at these establishments will go the extra mile to assist you in your search for the appropriate bottle to match your individual palate.

The Liquor Company has engaged Sam Uppala as consultant to the store and he has developed a varied program designed with the wine consumer in mind. Sam, by the way, is a certified wine educator and teaches classes on “The Art and Science of Wine” at the Clay Center. His next class will begin June 1st and you can find out more about it and sign up by calling 304-561-3517.

Tastings or “samplings” as they are referred to at The Liquor Company are conducted most Wednesday’s from 5 to 8 p.m. Cost is $5 and up to eight wines are made available for sipping. Upcoming samplings are scheduled for May 19, June 2 and June 16, but wines are available for tasting almost anytime during the day at the store’s “wine station” - which is a bar-like area in the rear of The Liquor Company.

In addition, The Liquor Company offers something called “The Grand Cru Loyalty Membership” that entitles members to special case discounts, free samplings and other goodies to enhance your wine shopping. Call the store at 304-346-6000 for details and pricing.

This past week we celebrated the life of a true American hero who braved the high seas to make sure we all have a place to call home. I refer, of course, to Christopher Columbus. As we toast Columbus this week with pasta and flagons of Chianti, you need to know the truth about our intrepid hero and how history was shaped by his love of good wine and food.

Columbus is most commonly thought of as a great explorer, but in reality he was an exceptional pitch man who was desperately trying to get someone to bankroll his questionable idea to find a shorter route to India where he would procure all manner of exotic spices.

Let’s also be honest and admit that as a sailor he was, at best, directionally challenged. Here’s a guy who traveled west to find a quicker route to the east and ended up discovering North…. America.

But Columbus was an unrelenting salesman who spent most of his life trying to convince the powers that be (back then) to underwrite his voyage.  In Italy, he threw party after banquet after bacchanalian feast trying to secure the funds.

As a result of this constant feasting, Columbus became a great gourmand who whose prodigious appetite for food and wine was legendary.  He was also a major pain in the rear for the Italian officials who were constantly bombarded with his proposals.

Finally, he went too far. After suggesting that you could get from Rome to Venice by way of the Caspian Sea, his Italian countrymen banished him to the loony bin, but not before for he had consumed an entire wheel of gorgonzola and washed it down with copious quantities of Frascati.

Undaunted, Columbus then went to Portugal where he lobbied King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. At the conclusion of a six-day orgy, where barrels of  Italian wine were consumed with the finest Portuguese cuisine, the king and queen  agreed, secretly hoping with all their hearts that  he would sail out of their lives and off the end of the world.

The rest, is as they say, history!

You may question the veracity of my story, but if you’ve ever been to Italy, you know the Italians, like Christopher Columbus, take their wine and their food seriously. I do too, and that’s why I think the vast portfolio of Italian wines suit just about every cuisine imaginable.

Unfortunately, most Americans think Italian wines should only be served with Italian foods, particularly the old stand-by of spaghetti in a red sauce. Well, yes, a good barbera (from northern Italy) does pair nicely with this type of pasta, but so does zinfandel, syrah and petite syrah – wines not native to Italy.

Today, I hope to convince you to try the wines of Italy and use them with the foods you eat each day. Italy has been described as a boot full of wine and there is no doubt this ancient and venerable land of friendly people and great food is awash in a sea of white and red. From the Piedmont in the northwest to the island of Sicily in the south, each of Italy’s 20 states makes more wines themselves that most countries produce.

And Italy boasts some of the greatest red wines in the world such as barolo and barbaresco produced in Piedmont from the nebbiolo grape. You will certainly need to decant these wines for hours before drinking and then you will need a full-bodied roasted meat dish, such as venison, to accompany them.

In Tuscany, Brunello Di Montalcino is also considered a great red wine. While the aforementioned barolo and barbaresco are heavy wines, brunello is more subtle, silky and mroe approachable in its youth.  Try it with grilled lamb seasoned with rosemary, garlic, olive oil and lemon.

Everyone has heard of chianti ( a region in Tuscany), but did you know that there is chianti, chianti classico (a delimited area where the best wine is produced) and also chianti classico riserva (which requires the chianti classico to be aged in oak barrels for a specified period of time).  Chianti is made from a combination of grapes, the most prominent of which is sangiovese. Chianti’s go well with roasted and grilled foods like chicken, salmon and portobello mushrooms.

In the northeastern part of the country, pinot grigio and prosecco are the most famous white wines, while chardonnay, cortese di gavi, arneis and gewurztraminer are also produced in the same geographic region.  Try the chardonnay with pasta in creme and butter sauces, the prosecco as an aperitif and the pinot grigio with lighter dishes such as omelets or quiches.

Another superb white wine is made from a grape called vernaccia. Try a Vernaccia Di San Gimignano from Tuscany for a lovely treat that is a nice accompaniment to broiled seafood such as sole or sea bass.  Many other whites, such as frascati, soave, and orvieto, are generally lighter styled wines and can be used as aperitifs or with salads, seafood and vegetable casseroles.

I‘ve barely scratched the surface in telling you about the wines of Italy.  Wines such as amarone, the full-bodied red of the Veneto, aglianico from Campania, primitivo from Apulia or nero d’avola from Sicily are also readily available for your sipping pleasure and can be matched with a wide variety of foods you consume each day.

So, the next time you reach for that bottle of cabernet to accompany your grilled beef tenderloin, grab a bottle of merlot from northern Italy or a nice vino nobile di Montepulciano from Tuscany instead. Salute!

Since my days as a long distance runner are in the rear view mirror, I have had to find a suitable aerobic exercise regimen to forestall the dirigible-like expansion of my midsection.  I am fighting the inevitable losing battle. However,  I am persistent and so I work out feverishly on exercise equipment, sweating profusely so that I can rationalize a lifestyle that only Orson Welles might have considered moderate.
 I feel compelled to mention this because, as you can probably guess, I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about food and wine.  And today, I am going to provide you with a recipe that is so delicious you won’t mind working out just so you can justify having it on a regular basis.             
 Someone once said that necessity is the mother of invention and so, as I rummaged around in the pantry and refrigerator looking for culinary inspiration, I stumbled upon a few ingredients and came up with a delicious meal idea.  I call it Smoky Salmon Pasta.    
The shopping list:
One red bell pepperOne-half cup of chopped cilantro
One clove of chopped garlicThree tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
One chopped jalapeno pepper
One-half cup dry white wine
One-quarter cup of Half-and-Half
One cup of chicken broth
Oone-quarter pound of smoked salmon
One pound of farfalle pasta (bow-ties); 
(Salmon Note) You may use any smoked salmon that is readily available, but I prefer to get mine from Joe’s Fish Market in Charleston (304-342-7827). The good folks at Joe’s brine and then “cold smoke" their salmon over apple wood and it is fabulous. It’s also great as an appetizer with a good pinot noir, such as the 2006 Evesham Wood from Oregon. 
Preparing the meal: 
1. Put a fork in the red pepper and roast it over the burner on the stove turning it until the skin begins to blacken. Place the pepper in a small paper bag and allow to sit for about 20 minutes. Then peel it, discard the seeds and chop into half inch pieces.

2. In a large sauté pan, place olive oil, jalapeno and garlic and lightly cook until the veggies are soft. Then add the chicken broth white wine and cook on moderate heat until liquid is reduced by one-third. Remove the pan from the burner and add the red pepper and salmon.

3. Now boil the farfalle in salted water until al dente (about 10 minutes). Place the sauté pan back on the burner, add the pasta, the half and half, season with salt and pepper and toss all ingredients. Now add the cilantro and serve.

Wine Recommendations:
This meal needs a full-bodied white wine. I love it with the Falcor Chardonnay which is a rich, oaky mouthful of wine that marries nicely with the spicy, smoky flavors of the dish. You might also try the L’Ecole No. 41 Semillon from Washington  State which is ripe and round with good balancing acidity.

When I was growing up, one of our faithful family traditions involved enthusiastic discourse around the holiday dinner table. To the rare outsiders who were infrequently invited to our large family repasts, the decibel level of this “enthusiasm” must have been a bit disconcerting.  No subject was too grand, obscure or off limits. We would debate everything from presidential elections to the color of Aunt Agnes’ moustache, and those who prevailed usually did so through din rather than  eloquence.  So, in keeping with family tradition, my brother and I have debated for decades the best wines to pair with Thanksgiving dinner. After exhaustive and sometimes heated discussions, we have come to the conclusion that almost every wine can marry nicely with some part of the Turkey Day meal.   Why? Listen up.  For years, I have written about the culinary versatility of turkey to be successfully paired with white or red, as well as light or full-bodied wines. The reason is this bird is blessed with meat that has different flavors, colors and textures. Add to this the way it is cooked - from traditional oven-baking, to deep frying, to grilling, to smoking (with hardwood such as apple)  - and you have even more wine choices from which to select. When you add stuffing to the turkey, you add a whole other flavor dimension which, depending upon the nature of the dressing, opens up even more wine possibilities. One year, for example, I stuffed a charcoal grilled turkey with cornbread, ancho chili peppers and chorizo sausage. What wine, you might ask, did I serve with this non-traditional turkey and stuffing?   Well, I started with Domaine Carneros sparkling wine as an aperitif. I proceeded to open a bottle of Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris for those who preferred white wine,  and a Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel for those who wanted a big red. And guess what? It worked. For dessert, I chose a bottle of Joseph Phelps Late Harvest riesling to accompany the  pumpkin pie, and then plopped on the couch to watch some team beat up on the Detroit Lions. Here are a few wine-pairing suggestions, based upon cooking methods, for your Thanksgiving Day:  The traditional oven-roasted turkey with a mild dressing is very nicely accompanied by whites such as pinot grigo, sauvignon blanc or chardonnay, or reds such as pinot noir, chianti classico, or sangiovese. Older wines such as Bordeaux or California cabernet sauvignon go nicely as well. On the other hand, if you smoke or grill your bird, try full-bodied zinfandel, shiraz, Chateauneuf Du Pape or even Amarone.      So what about my approach this year? Well, I plan to stuff  the critter with bread dressing flavored with Italian sausage, chestnuts, onion and celery,  then bake it in the oven.  With this traditional meal, I’ll start with a bottle of Vigna Dogarina Extra Dry Prosecco ($23, at right) for the aperitif, followed by 2007 Baron Fini Pinot Grigio ($14) as well as 2005 Falcor Sangiovese ($35) (which will both be poured with the main course). For dessert with pumpkin pie,  I’ll be blowing my diet with a taste of 2004 Arrowood Late Harvest Riesling ($24).   Since Aunt Agnes shaved her moustache, the only thing left to decide is the subject of the family holiday dinner debate.   Bon Apetit!              

Odd n’ ends… As you know, each year around the 15th of November, the first wine of the 2008 vintage from the Beaujolais region in France is released to the public with great fanfare and celebration.That’s right, Beaujolais Nouveau time is upon us and this year’s wine is very good.

In terms of drinkability, Beaujolais Nouveau can be a lively, frothy, strawberry fruit- forward mouthful of wine.  At its best, the wine is a pleasant quaffer that is never meant to be taken too seriously, but rather to be enjoyed and celebrated. Even when the wine is ordinary, it’s still something I look forward to each year.

In cafes and wine shops all around the world, people are buying  Beaujolais Nouveau to toast the new vintage year and to prepare their palates (and wallets)  for the holiday wine-buying season to come. More...If you haven’t yet sipped the 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau, I recommend the Georges Duboeuf ($14). With a mouth-tingling frothiness and aromas of strawberries, this is a very tasty wine that will match up well with an assortment of mild cheeses or a frittata of eggs, Italian sausage and red and green peppers.

….

Wine and beef lovers should take a trip over to Huntington and sample the goodies at Frankie D’s Italian Chop House. Frankie D’s specializes in using “choice” beef and serves up reasonably priced dishes of you favorite cuts of red meat.  The menu also includes seafood and pasta, along with a martini bar and an extensive wine list.

The wine list boasts a fairly comprehensive selection of cabernet sauvignon with a price to meet just about every pocket book. On my visit, we paired the wines of Vigna Dogarina from the Veneto region of northern Italy with a four course meal highlighted by a delicious crabmeat- topped eight ounce filet.

Accompanying this dish was the 2004 Vigna Dogarina Decano ($24 retail price). This wine is a blend of 55% cabernet and 45% merlot, and fills the glass with chocolate and mint aromas. In the mouth it is silky, round and rich with flavors of black cherry and anise.

Give Frankie D’s a try. It’s located in Pullman Square. You might call ahead (304-781-3022) for reservations.

….

Hat’s off to Kroger for the renewed emphasis the company is placing on wine. The store at Ashton Place has completely rearranged and relocated the wine department and has hired Lisa Cicconi to manage the operation. Lisa is a long-time wine lover who is also a knowledgeable wine enthusiast. Look her up the next time you’re shopping at Ashton Place.

…

Three reds to try: 2004 Wild Oak Cabernet Sauvignon ($27) – This is a finely structured cabernet from St. Francis winery, and is a blend of several Sonoma County appellations and integrates merlot and petit verdot into the finished product. Approachable now, this wine should improve for another five to seven years. Grill a T-bone with this baby.

2004 Rivola Sardon De Duero ($18) - Rich, ruby red blend of tempranillo and cabernet, this Spanish wine has understated aromas of vanilla and plums with flavors of dark fruit and spice. Try it with pork tenderloin rubbed with olive oil, garlic and black pepper and roasted in a bath of wine.

2005 Sebastiani Alexander Valley Cabernet ($30) -   One of my favorite all-time wineries, Sebastiani produced an elegant wine from the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County. This wine, like other Alexander Valley cabernets such as Jordan and Chalk Hill and Silver Oak, have the appellation’s smooth tannins along with earthy, spicy black currant flavors. A holiday season beef rib roast would be the perfect match with this wine.