Often, matching the wine to the food is one of the last things considered, says Mr. Howald. Mr. Howald offers detailed flavor notes about many of the wines on City Cafe's list. It's not the end of the world, says Mr. Howald. To support that, Mr. Hanni conducts a simple tasting during his seminars. Contrary to what most people think, the beef without some salt and lemon juice doesn't taste very good with the red wine.
Many participants are surprised to find how well the chardonnay goes with steak.
Most of all, they're surprised at how well the white zinfandel goes with all the flavors on the tasting plate. We've trained ourselves to like things that don't naturally taste good, like scotch or a martini. Besides being noble savages, lovers of white zinfandel may be supertasters. That term, commonly used in the rarefied world of those who taste for a living, is applied to rare individuals with extraordinarily high numbers of taste receptors. Like a musician with an extraordinary ear for sweet and sour notes, a supertaster is more sensitive to tastes, both pleasant and unpleasant.