How important are grass-roots food and wine pairings? Many wine producers, and restaurant operators, believe they are essential. However it may be more of a European perspective (which I frequently embrace). My Italian and “honary Italian” friends almost always drink local wines with regional foods. Part of the reason for this is that is a focus on what is primarily what is available locally. It might seem like a limited perspective in this country, and justifiably so, when we have wines from around the world.

However, there is some truth to the old adage. When one of my favorite producers from the Veneto in Northern Italy—Montresor—hosted a recent dinner focused on regional food from that region in San Francisco, I wondered if it was really important to zero in on these synergies. As American consumers we tend to drink a wide range of wines with all kinds of food.

So I have to admit that the dinner was brilliant. We cooked regional foods from the Veneto in an intimate setting—guided by local Italian chefs—and the pairings were fantastic. Traditional Venetian chicchetti (small bites) like Sarde in Soar—sardines in a sweet and sour sauce—were fantastic with Montresor’s Lugana single-vinyard “Gran Guardia” 2009 and their delcious Valpolicella (perhaps the most affordable red from the Veneto) was also served.

So perhaps we need to rethink our pairing strategy here? Cin cin,

Liza the Wine Chick