These restaurants deserve congratulations for their achievement. We wondered, though, how well they fare on the elusive marriage between their menus and their wine lists. The Chronicle food staff is always excited to find restaurants that put time, effort, and creativity into the search for great combinations of food and wine. Most of the world looks at wine as an accompaniment to food. To put wine in the same category as other alcoholic refreshment belittles its value.
Wines have considerable individual character.
The artful blending of the right wine with the appropriate food can boost a mundane dish paired with an average wine to an impressive dining experience. Poorly combined, a superb menu item mated to an exceptional wine will be an expensive letdown. Restaurateurs should be some of our best guides in cutting through the nearly endless permutations of food and wine combinations. Herein lies the rub. Few establishments design menu items based on their wine list or vice-versa.