Product Description
As thousands of wines from around the globe enter the marketplace and the American palate continues to adopt flavors from a range of cultures, the task of pairing wine and food becomes increasingly complicated. No longer is the choice simply red or white, or wines from California, France, or Italy. The typical shopper today has access to wines from those regions plus South Africa, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia. If that isn't confusing enough, Asian, Latin American, and Creole dishes might find their way onto the same table. Perfect Pairings, by well-known Master Sommelier and respected restaurant industry veteran Evan Goldstein, provides straightforward, practical advice for choosing the right bottle for each meal. The quintessential resource for matching wine and food, this book includes 58 companion recipes developed by celebrated chef Joyce Goldstein that showcase each type of wine.
Perfect Pairings combines in-depth explorations of twelve grape varietals, sparkling wines, and dessert wines with guidance about foods that enhance the wide range of styles for each varietal. Whether the Chardonnay is earthy and flinty; rich, buttery, and oak-infused; fruity and tropical; or aged and mature, Goldstein explains how to match it with dishes that will make the wine sing. His clear, educational, and entertaining approach towards intimidating gastronomical questions provides information for all readers, professional and amateur alike.
* 16 full-color photos
* Six seasonal and special occasion menus
* Tips for enhancing food and wine experiences, both at home and in restaurants
* Glossary of wine terminology
* Overview of the world's primary wine-growing regions
* Recommendations of more than five hundred wines, ranging in price from everyday to splurge
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Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food
- Hardcover: 328 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; 2006-05-15
- Label: University of California Press
- Studio: University of California Press
- ISBN: 0520243773
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 14 reviews
- Sales Rank in Books: #28836
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Pairings 2008-12-24
Comment: I puchased five copies for gifts to my family members as information for pairing wines with foods. They all felt that the materials were very helpful. I would recommend this to any one struggling ith wine and food pairings.
John Casey, Northville, MI>
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must have for all food/wine junkies! 2008-02-09
Comment: As a studying Sommelier, I find this book lays the foundation for food and wine harmony. It is a wonderful reference and will be helpful for all levels of wine education. Cheers!
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great on content, poor on photos 2007-09-28
Comment: If you don't care that much about photos with recipes, this book is excellent on text. There is a photo section in the middle but personally I like to see at least half of the cookbook with accompanying photos. I gave this as a first anniversary gift to my son and daughter-in-law because they enjoy both wines and foods. She liked it a lot for the information about how to combine dishes and also the sections on history of the wines/regions. It is weak on information about American wines and in some cases it might be difficult to find some of the foreign wines mentioned. I would probably use it more as a reference book than a standard cookbook.
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: chef and wine specialist 2007-05-12
Comment: very comprehensive, touches on all wine types and their attributes matched with food. Great recipes also. This book should be studied and savored by all who are interested in wines and in how to pair them with
foods.
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Solid good advice, good for main or back up book! 2007-05-01
Comment: I wish that I could have the knowledge of this book by osmosis. To read Evan's insightful comments about a wine, then to read suggestions on food pairings with that wine, is a delight. Additionally, Joyce's ample recipes, some simple, some complex, are well chosen, and a strong plus for adventuresome cooks to buy this book.
This was my favorite pairing book (and there's several books out there!) till recently.
When I saw a copy of "What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine...by Andrew Dornenburg, I realized that Dorenberg had "one-upped" this good text in different ways. One can find the food type, or the dominant spicing or saucing, then work backwards to the wines that are better suited. This is a more intuitive way for most people not well versed in different wines, and is better for me, as I need to match a wine to a fish's sauce more than to the fish. Still it does not diminish my appreciation for Perfect Pairing one bit. Evan Goldstein's Perfect Pairings does acknowledge this importance as well on pages 22-23 and 26-7, however many readers may gloss over this. The book is not as well geared as Dorenberg's in my opinion, for things such as spicy or some Asian or other ethnic foods, your mileage may vary.
Additionally, Dorenberg's book expands one's options with a food to go beyond wine for pairings, to include spirits, beer, etc. This makes more sense, as I just love a good beer with some things (some Asian food, German foods, etc.) that just don't work as well with recommended wines. The drawback (or plus, to some) to Dorenburg's book is that it isn't a text as Goldstein's. Dorenburg's book, after a few brief text chapters, is an extensive alphabetical listing of numerous foods and beverages, followed by their matches, with no explanation present, or felt needed.
I like Goldstein's Perfect Pairings dessert/dessert wine chapter, for example, having a sweet tooth. This section gives a good overview of different wines (late harvest, fortified, sparkling), and then separately talks about tree/stone fruit desserts, creamy and custard desserts, nut and dried-frut desserts, and finally the chocolatee, coffee, and caramel desserts..and recommends appropriate wines for each dessert classification.
Glance through both wine pairing books, and see which book style suits your needs best. I enjoy aspects of both, for different reasons, and appreciate each for it's strengths.
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Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food
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