The accepted wine ‘etiquette’

Matching wine and food in a right way means to create a taste and aroma harmony and exalt both of them characteristics. It's not easy to find some matching rule (and few people would agree saying that there aren't rules): every course has its own peculiar characteristics and needs a different wine. As a general rule the body of a wine must be equivalent to food complexity and character: a delicate food need a light and delicate wine while a complex one can match with a full bodied wine. You must keep attention to the way of cooking too: if your food is very spiced it is better to drink a very scented wine, while if a food is too well done it becomes more bitter. Besides you can experiment the following tips.

      Wine Lifestyle

Taste characteristics of pasta and rice depends on the kind of sauce you use: meat based sauces prefer red wines but fish based one match better with white wines.
Meat is a quite versatile food that can match both with whites and with reds: generally red meats require red wines but white ones can match with white (and full bodied) wines too.
Fish prefers white wines even if there are some exceptions (stewed fat fish).
Every kind of cheese prefer a particular kind of wine; normally cheese with soft paste prefer light wines and cheese with aged and hard paste need red and full bodied wines.
Cakes, cookies and all kind of dessert need sweet wines.
Generally it is not a good idea to drink wine with chocolates, artichokes and above all if you use vinegar.

Wine is not a food, in fact even if it is made of several substances as water, sugars, vitamins and minerals, it has very little nutritious meaning. Never-the-less wine has a proper role in food diet, or rather it has some physiological properties because of the presence of alcohol and others less important elements as glycerin, tannins, etc. Several case studies confirm that "moderate consumption" of wine has good effects on digestive and cardiac apparatus. About the former apparatus, it reduces the risk of gallstone; about the latter apparatus, according to some studies it reduces coronary heart disease mortality. Besides alcohol coul riduce the thrombosis risk. This rate of mortality increases a lot for heavy drinkers that are much more subject to mortality than non-drinkers. What does "moderate consumption" mean? It depends on individual physical characteristics or better on the ability of alcohol burning. According to some specialist the right measure of drinking is about one-two glasses a day for men and a bit less fow women.

However the right measure depends also on alcoholic content, as well as on individual tolerance and consumption way (before meals, regular or occasional consumption, etc.). It is necessary to avoid drinking wine for children, adolescents, and during pregnancy and breast feeding. Pay attention about drinking before driving: alcohol reduces self-criticism and motor coordination. That said, we still advise our readers to sit down at any of those trattorie (traditional small family restaurants), soak in the sun while drinking chilled Frascati or whatever the house wine will be. In this case, the scene abundantly complements the food and wine and your memory of it will be a pleasant and long-lasting one.

Italian Wines Glossary

The following Italian terms may be found on labels or literature about wine:

A
Abboccato - Lightly sweet
Alcool - Alcohol, usually stated by % of volume
Amabile – Semisweet
Annata - Vintage year
Azienda agricola or agraria or vitivinicola - Farm or estate that produces
all or most of the grapes for wines sold under its labels

B
Bianco - White
Botte - Cask or barrel
Bottiglia - Bottle
Brut - Dry (sparkling wine)

C
Cantina - Cellar or winery
Cantina sociale - Cooperative winery
Casa vinicola - Wine house or merchant (commerciante) whose bottlings come mainly from purchased grapes or wines
Cascina - Farmhouse, often used for estate
Cerasuolo - Cherry-hued rosé
Chiaretto - Deep rosé
Classico - The historic core of a DOC zone.
Consorzio - Consortium of producers.

D
Dolce - Sweet

E
Enoteca - Literally wine library, referring to both publicly sponsored displays and privately owned shops
Enologo - Enologist with a university degree; enotecnico is a winemaking technician with a diploma
Ettaro - Hectare (2.471 acres) the standard measure of vineyard surface in Italy
Ettolitro - Hectoliter, or 100 liters, the standard measure of wine volume in Italy
Etichetta - Label

F
Fattoria - Farm or estate
Frizzante or Frizzantino - Fizzy or faintly fizzy

I
Imbottigliata - Bottled (all'origine implies at the source)
lnvecchiato - Aged

L
Liquoroso - Strong wine, sometimes fortified but often of naturally high alcoholic grade

M
Maso - A holding, often referring to a vineyard or estate.
Masseria - Farm or estate
Metodo Charmat - Sparkling wine made by the sealed tank method
Metodo classico or tradizionale - Terms for sparkling wine made by the bottle fermentation method that originated in Champagne. The term méthode champenoise can not be used in Italy
Millesimato - Vintage dated sparkling wine

P
Passito or Passita - Partially dried grapes and the strong, usually sweet wine made from them
Podere - Small farm or estate
Produttore - Producer

R
Recioto -Wine made from partly dried grapes, often sweet and strong
Riserva - Reserve, for DOC or DOCG wine aged a specific time.
Rosato - Rosé
Rosso - Red

S
Scelto - Selected, term used for certain DOC wines. Auslese in German (Alto Adige)
Secco - Dry
Semisecco - Medium sweet, usually in sparkling wine
Spumante - Sparkling in dry or sweet wines
Superiore - Denotes DOC wine that meets standards above the norm (higher alcohol, longer aging, a special subzone), though conditions vary

T
Tenuta - Farm or estate

U
Uva - Grape

V
Vecchio - Old, to describe aged DOC wines; Stravecchio, very old, applies to the longest aged Marsala and to some spirits.
Vendemmia - Harvest or vintage. Vendemmia tardiva or late harvest defines wines from grapes left to ripen fully on the vine
Vigna or vigneto - Vineyard. Vigna may be used under DOC/DOCG
for approved single-vineyard wines.
Vignaiolo/Viticoltore - Terms for grape grower.
Vino da tavola - Table wine, applies loosely to most non-DOC or IGT

classified wine
Vino novello - New wine, usually red, that must be bottled and sold within the year of harvest
Vitigno - Vine or grape variety
Vivace - Lively, as in lightly bubbly wines