Over the two plus decades that I have been teaching about food and wine I have, of course, evolved my philosophies in keeping with changing palates, evolving wine styles, and culinary changes (and challenges). The one paramount concept that has remained a constant for me is that, for most people, experience (the totality of who you are with, what the occasion is, where you are dining, etc.) trumps food and wine matching perfection. If you ask Joe and Mary Consumer what their most memorable epicurean occasions were, they are more often based on context rather than the actual synergy (or even epiphany) of the wine and food. The couple in love enjoying crappy Italian wine and mediocre risotto at a little trattoria in Siena likely recall their occasion with great fondness though if they had the same wine and food combo at home on a Tuesday night, it would not carry the same emotionally attached result. Continue reading »