By The Glass Roberto Viernes

---

Picking wines to match 4 lunch dishes

A FRIEND and I wanted to have a really nice lunch to celebrate the coming of the holidays. We originally thought about sushi, but I don't know of any great sushi restaurants that have an equally great wine list -- too bad. So we decided on the Bistro at Century Center. We chose four dishes specifically to match four wines I had selected.

The first wine was the delicious 2004 Cantina di Custozza Lugana ($11), made 100 percent from a grape called "trebbiano" from Veneto in Italy.

Anyone who has traveled there knows the seafood is amazing, so fresh that sometimes it's still kicking. So for the first course we went with a really nice stuffed shrimp dish, made with shrimps so large they were more like prawns. The beautiful citrus and floral character of the trebbiano acted like a squeeze of lemon and a dash of herbs with the dish.

The wine also has a refreshing acidity that pricks the palate to attention as it cuts into the richness of the sauce and stuffing. The match was even better than I'd hoped.

Next we went onto a glass of the 2005 Terredora di Paolo Greco di Tufo ($19), from Campania, in the warmer south part of Italy. To me this wine is Italy's version of chablis. It comes from an area famous for a light-colored, limestone-based soil called "tufo" ("ruffe" in French), which gives the wine a beautiful mineral note and a nice balance of acidity.

The grape here is "greco," which has a slightly thick skin that gives the wine an ample but not full texture. It has a ton of complexity and intensity with bright pear and apple flavors, with a suggestion of savory herbs.

We had the fish of the day, sautéed onaga with a lemon beurre blanc sauce that was certainly rich for lunch but done perfectly. Here, the pairing seemed to duel. Both food and wine were vying for attention. They were great on their own but together lacked synergy. But that's OK, we decided, because having great flavors in your mouth is always better than not.

Our third course was the Country Paté. To wash down this dense, flavorful loaf, we had the 2004 Marcel Lapierre Morgon ($20) from Beaujolais. Gamay is the grape here, from one of Beaujolais' 10 best sites, called "cru," and one of its finest producers. Marcel neither chaptalizes nor filters his wine. It is impeccably natural and as good as many village pinot noirs from Burgundy.

Cranberry and strawberry notes in the wine added complexity to the dish; silky texture and acidity cut through fattiness, leaving us wanting more.

Last, but certainly not least, we had a terrific dish of braised veal cheeks along with the 2004 Clos la Coutale Cahors ($15). This dark beauty is based on malbec, blended with a splash of merlot for silkiness and a dash of tannat for complexity. This wine is easily one of the best red-wine values anywhere. Its blackberry, currant and almost chocolate flavors melded superbly with the veal cheeks. The tannins are full but ripe and round, matching the protein and fat of dish, bite for bite. Wow, that was great.

As you can see, you don't have to splurge on the wine to have a beautiful meal -- you just have to pick the right one. And if you don't, keep trying. Like me, even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut in the forest.

Cheers!

---