Wine Recommendations

One of the most famous wine regions in the world is Chateauneuf du Pape. Chateauneuf du Pape covers almost 8,000 acres in the southern Rhone Valley of France. The officially demarcated wine region enjoys a very warm climate, baked by the Mediterranean sun. While both red and white wines are made here, it is the red wine that has made this area famous.

With winter upon us thoughts naturally drift towards warm comfort food. Wit this in mind, IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to suggest a great wine to pair with pasta bolognese: Because Bolognese is a thick tomato and meat based red sauce, it tends to need a tannin friendly, but acidic wine. Therefore the Palmina 2007 Dolcetto ($20) from Santa Barbara blends seamlessly with Bolognese. The dolcetto’s acid works with the tomato base and the rich ripe fruit blends well with whatever meat used in the sauce. Dolcettos by there nature are built as food friendly wine and certainly it’s a variety you don’t see too often. Of course there are wines available from Italy, but some areas of California are producing outstanding Italian varietals. Palmina focuses of Italian varieties and has quietly been making excellent wines. - Michael Cervin , Wine Judge, Restaurant Critic, and IntoWine Featured Writer

If your local wine shop is like mine, you've noticed that the Portuguese wine section grows larger every month. Wines from Portugal are becoming more and more popular. At the heart of this surge in popularity is the Douro wine region, known for centuries as the home of Port wines . Today, the Douro Valley is also famous for its excellent unfortified wines, particularly reds.

We recently asked our panel of wine experts to recommend a wine to pair with roasted chicken. While a variety of recommendations came forth, the clear winner of the day was New Zealand's Spy Valley Pinot Noir as two of our experts independently suggested this gem of a wine. I would recommend a Pinot Noir. Pinot is a great match for fowl. The roasted qualities of this preparation call for one that is perhaps a bit smoky or has some toasty oak notes (within reason). I am going to recommend a Spy Valley Pinot Noir from New Zealand .