It is a situation that many dread. You are entertaining a group of people in a restaurant and the sommelier hands you the wine list. Your guests have ordered various starters and different main courses too, including fish, red meat and vegetarian options. How can you find a wine that everyone will enjoy? And how can you match it to so many very different dishes?
There is a group of versatile white and red wines that will cover all bases as well as pleasing all but the fussiest wine drinker. They have an easy fruitiness, medium acidity, light tannins and fresh lightly textured fruit. Ideally you want to avoid big alcoholic wines that will overpower lighter dishes, and steer clear of anything oaky which could clash with some foods.
The white wines should be light- to medium-bodied. There is no shortage of options. You could go for a dry riesling from Alsace or Austria, an unoaked chardonnay, a chenin blanc from the Loire or South Africa, a pinot blanc from Alsace, a verdicchio or Soave from Italy, a Spanish albariño, or a grüner veltliner from Austria. I would probably favour the latter two wines as the standard is generally reliable across the board.
Albariño typically has fresh acidity, medium body and crowd-pleasing fresh fruits. It is rarely oaked and will go very well with most seafood as well as white meats such as chicken and pork. Grüner veltliner has a similar make-up often with a spicy note. Like an albariño, it will go nicely with a variety of foods and has a great affinity with many Asian dishes. Both are usually reasonably priced too.
When it comes to red wines, merlot, gamay, pinot noir, blaufränkisch garnacha/grenache or syrah are all good options. From Italy, consider barbera, Valpolicella, montepulciano d’abruzzo, or Rosso Conero. Most of these wines have light tannins and come from cooler wine regions, which means they tend to have higher acidity and lower alcohol, perfect for enjoying with a wide variety of meat, cheese and vegetarian dishes. Some will go perfectly well with seafood too. I would generally go for a Beaujolais (Fleurie would do nicely) or a pinot noir. If I am in an Italian restaurant a Soave followed by Valpolicella may seem very retro, but these days both usually offer good value for money.
If you are in celebratory mood, champagne is one the great flexible wines that will go with just about any food. Rosé is another versatile wine that matches nicely with all sorts of dishes, ideal if you want to choose just one wine.
