From Tuscany to South Africa, some of the best lessons about food and wine have less to do with rules and more to do with what happens around the table.
For centuries, people have gathered around a table to share a meal. We add wine to the equation, not to make the experience more complicated, but to deepen it.
Some of the most useful lessons my husband and I have learned about pairing did not come from charts or rules. They came while sitting at tables in Tuscany, Sicily, South Africa, Argentina, and other parts of the world, watching how people served the wines and foods of their regions to family, friends, and sometimes two travelers from Idaho.
In Tuscany, we were invited to lunch with the family of Italo Zingarelli, the Italian film producer known for popular Spaghetti Westerns. After leaving the film industry, he purchased a neglected estate in Chianti and built Rocca delle Macìe, a legacy now carried forward by his family.
We gathered around the table with his son Sergio, Sergio's wife, Daniela, and members of their team. Platters were shared. Bottles opened. Conversation moved easily around the table. No one paused to debate whether each wine was technically perfect with every bite. The food and wine simply belonged together, and for a while, we did too.
That may be the first and most important lesson the world taught us about pairing: wine is not the reason we gather. It helps us stay at the table.
Elsewhere in Tuscany, we sat down with Dan Bell of La Caccia Wines over aged pecorino, artisan salami, bread, olive oil, and other regional favorites. A bold Super Tuscan drew something different from each bite. The salt and richness of the cheese softened the wine's tannins. The cured meat brought forward its fruit. The olive oil connected everything to the landscape around us.
Foods and wines from the same place often understand one another.
We found that again in Sicily, at a restaurant in an old castle village near Mount Etna. With pasta, grilled sausage, vegetables, cheeses, and other local dishes, we drank O'Scuru O'Scuru, an Etna Rosso from Al-Cantàra. Its freshness and savory character felt at home with the food on the table.
But another meal in Sicily taught us not to turn that idea into a rule.
At an Airbnb overlooking the Golfo di Noto, our daughter prepared grilled fish and a fresh salad made with zucchini, homegrown beans, and produce from the area. The wine was not Sicilian. It was a Reserve Chardonnay from Creation Wines in South Africa that we wanted to share with her. Its richness worked with the fish and vegetables, while its acidity kept the meal from feeling heavy. Even the French fries helped, their salt and crispness made the Chardonnay more enjoyable.
Place can guide a pairing, but the character of the food and wine matters more than geography.
South Africa reinforced that lesson. At a traditional braai, game cooked over the fire. A Pinotage had enough depth to meet the meat, while its dark fruit and savory character worked naturally with the char and smoke.
Another meal challenged the familiar instinct to pair fish with white wine. Aged trout with ratatouille and tarragon sabayon was served with a South African Pinot Noir. The fish itself was delicate, but the preparation changed the equation. The browned trout, earthy vegetables, and creamy sauce gave the red wine something to hold onto, while Pinot Noir was light enough not to overpower the dish.
The lesson was simple: don't pair only to the protein. Pay attention to how it is prepared and everything else on the plate.
In Luján de Cuyo, Argentina, beef cooked over the fire arrived with salads, potatoes, and a bottle of Bestial Malbec from MAAL Wines. It was a classic pairing, but the greater lesson was the asado itself. This was not one piece of meat served in isolation. It was a gathering built around fire, food, conversation, and time.
The wine matched the scale of the meal, but it also matched the spirit of it.
We return home to Idaho with fewer rules after each trip. We pay attention to weight, richness, acidity, salt, spice, and how the food is cooked. We also consider the occasion and the people around the table.
A great pairing should elevate both the food and the wine. But perhaps the best ones do something more. The flavors complement one another, the people around the table connect, and somehow it becomes easy to linger long after the plates are cleared and the last glass is poured.