Wine-friendly foods

The key to pairing

Like the kids clothing line Garanimals -- where tiger-tagged shirts work with similarly labeled pants and giraffe tops pair up with giraffe bottoms -- finding affordable, everyday products that mix and match easily with wine is the key to pairing prowess.

Dried cherries

These are a staple in my kitchen. (You can even use the widely available dried cranberries for a similar effect.) Toss them into sauces and pour over pork, salmon or chicken, stack them on crackers slathered with goat cheese or sprinkle them on steamed green beans. The jolt of tangy cherry flavor complements medium-bodied, cherry-scented red wines such as Pinot Noir, Dolcetto, Barbera or Beaujolais.

Goat cheese

Goat cheese (or chevre as it's called in French) comes in many shapes and flavors. From rounds covered in herbs to pepper encrusted rolls, it can be soft to semi-hard but is most familiar to Americans as a creamy, smooth cheese.

Scoop fresh goat cheese on celery, toss it with warm pasta and vegetables, or brush a thin dollop over chicken breasts and broil. With aggressive tartness, sweet herbal notes and a delicate texture it pairs beautifully with like-minded wines. Try Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre, white Bordeaux, Italian Pinot Grigio, Oregon Pinot Gris or Australia's white wine sensation, Verdelho.

Potato chips and popcorn

Nothing goes better with crisp Champagne than plain old potato chips. The salty fattiness of chips takes the edge off sparkling wine's snap of acidity. Salted nuts or even buttered popcorn works in much the same way. Best-bet bubblies include Champagne and California sparkling wine labeled Blanc de Blancs, which means the wine is made from chardonnay grapes, and Brut, which indicates the wine is dry.

Barbeque sauce

Many cooks don't think of pouring a dash of barbeque sauce on anything other than ribs. However, it's also delicious drizzled on steak sandwiches and spread on focaccia bread layered with shredded chicken and grated cheese.

Barbeque sauces typically contain a mixture of tomatoes, onions, brown sugar and vinegar, beer or wine. These ingredients combine to make a topping that's slightly sweet but also acidic, which matches spicy, dry-to-off-dry wines such as White Zinfandel, Ros� from southern France (usually labeled Bandol or Tavel) and light-bodied red Zinfandel. If there's a smoky kick to the sauce try it with Australian Shiraz or California Syrah.

Pecan shortbread cookies

No dinner is complete without dessert -- and in my house dessert wine -- so make it easy to whip up show-stopping treats by stocking up on inexpensive pecan shortbread cookies. With mild, nutty flavors and slightly sweet quality, they're the ideal canvas to pair up with dessert wine. Put apricot jam inside two cookies to complement a decadent late-harvest Riesling, dip in chocolate and serve along side Port or serve alone with a slightly sweet wine made from Muscat. What a way to end a meal.