The marriage of food and wine

A good meal loses some of its flavour if it isn't accompanied by a few good bottles. But marrying food and wine is not child's play. The French crus, with their wealth of diversity of origin, make every alliance possible and develop every shade of flavour.

Here are a few general rules to start off with: drink a light wine with a light dish, a generous, robust wine with a richly-flavoured dish. With highly-spiced dishes, go for a white, dry rosé or tannic red, but avoid fine wines. With a very sweet dessert, go for a dry wine, and with a more tangy dessert try smooth or naturally sweet wines. But you can drink champagne, all the way through the meal!

That's the theory. So, in practice, which wine should be served with the starters? Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône, red Anjou and Saumur Champigny go very well with charcuteries. Fish and seafood prefer white wines: Chablis, Sancerre or Riesling with seafood, Rosé from Provence or Roussillon with a bouillabaisse, Pouilly Fumé or dry Gewurztraminer with smoked fish… A starter served with a vinaigrette will accommodate the liveliness of a tangy Entre-deux-mers white or a fruity Chinon rosé.

Every meat has its wine

When it comes to meat, the choice is even greater. With a white meat, a red wine which is not too tannic, like a Beaujolais or a Vallée-de-la-Loire, will be perfect. Roast meat goes well with a tannic red wine which isn't too full-bodied, like a Roussillon. Meats with sauce appreciate the power of a great red wine from Bordeaux, Burgundy or the Vallée-du-Rhône. A Cahors or a Madiran will be very happy with a confit. If you're eating pork, go for full-bodied wines which aren't too tannic: a Côte de Beaune or a Saint Joseph. Chinon and rabbit stew make a happy couple, or you can match red Burgundy with a beef bourguignon or venison, Châteauneuf-du-Pape with lamb…

Cheeses, which often have a strong flavour, are more difficult to pair off. Dry goats' cheeses go very well with dry white wines like Sancerre or white Côtes du Roussillon. Sauternes goes with roquefort, and Gewurztraminer with munster. Saint-Emilion is happier with tomme de Savoie. Hard cheeses, like gruyere, emmenthal and gouda, like a glass of Tokay Pinot Gris or Graves, while soft cheeses, like camembert and brie, prefer a Bordeaux or a Côtes-du-Rhône.

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