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		Wine is a wonderful and easy thing to enjoy, and contrary to the fuss some people raise about which wine to drink and  when to do it, we think wine is really meant to be a pleasurable accompaniment to food, and a satisfying and refreshing beverage. This is a very general guide to the most popular grape types or varietals that you will run into, and some of the most common blended wines; with a view to hopefully helping you to enjoy the wonderful diversity in wine without too much of the intimidation that sometimes happens.             Starting with the white grapes, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most food friendly and flexible wines produced in the world!  At it's best, this wine can possess vivid perfumed noses of figs, melons, herbs, and minerals, crisp fruit; wonderful zesty flavors and a dry finish.  Some barrel-fermented styles may have a little Semillon (another white grape) added that will give the wine a honeyed character and a rich medium to full body.  Examples of the first style are best found in wines from the Loire Valley in France, but there are some really excellent Sauvignons also being made in California and in South America.  It is usually good with fresh herb sauces, and an excellent aperitif.  Some of the most famous French Sauvignons are from Sancerre and Pouilly Fume; you should really try these wines with goat cheese sometime!  Wonderful!  Remember too, that White Bordeaux Wines are usually mostly Sauvignon Blanc, although a lot are blended with some Semillon and other less common grape types.              Chardonnay is the great superstar of white wines.  The diversity of flavors attainable would make you breathless!...ranging all the way from green apples and rich ripe mango and pineapple in California wines; to stony and mineral scents you find in Chablis (which is sooo good with oysters on the half shell!), then the buttery, smoky, creamy and refreshingly floral and light, lemony wines of the Macon, also in Burgundy.  You can find a Chardonnay to suit almost any mood, but be aware that some of our California Chardonnays now have a little sugar added to increase their drinkability; but, the drier the wine (the lower sugar level, that is) the better it will be with food in general.  Also, please remember that you should never serve Chardonnay with anything spicy or peppery.  Somehow, when paired with Chardonnay the 'heat' multiplies and doesn't taste good at all.             Riesling or Johannisberg Riesling is another one of the great white wine grapes. The most exciting flavors in German wines come from Riesling; in drier ones there are flavors and scents of lime and apples. but as the Riesling becomes sweeter, the flavors move in the direction of tropical fruit (ie. mango, pineapples, peaches, and apricots).  Behind all of these flavors lies a steedy and vibrant fruit acidity that gives the wine an exceptional degree of clear fruit flavor.  They make excellent food wines.  The German wines made from Riesling include Piesporter Michaelsberg, Bernkasteler and Niersteiner.  Of course, we cannot forget the great late harvest and 'noble rot' wines like' Beerenauslese' and 'Trockenbeerenauslese.'  Another area that produces really good dry Rieslings is Alsace in France, and Riesling is also very popular in Australia.  Great summer quaffing wines in general, to be especially enjoyed here in Savannah with the heat!             Chenin Blanc is the grape in the wine Vouvray, a wine from the Loire Valley.  It can produce wines both sweet and dry; the dry ones are exceptionally good with shellfish, and the late harvest or 'noble rot' wines (depending on the method used to make the wines sweet) can be just spectacular.  In California, most wineries lean towards a fruity, delicate and perfumed, light to medium body style, and more and more people are discovering great values in these delicious wines at very reasonable prices.  Excellent picnic and afternoon wines!             Gewurztraminer, which literally means 'spicy' (gewurz), is and can be a real taste sensation!  There is no doubt that although there are some good Gewurztraminers being made in California, the most heroic wines made from this grape come from Germany and Alsace in France.  The wine can be intensely perfumed, with rich floral and fruit aromas ranging from roses to pineapples.  Gewurztraminer has an exceptional ability to stand up to heavy seasonings such as blackened spice, curry powder, or jerk seasoning, but is really best when drunk by itself as an aperitif.  However, be sure to please yourself in the enjoyment of this unique grape.  It is considered a good partner to foie gras, or to rich cheeses like Muenster.             Pinot Blanc is a steely, crispier, firmer wine than Chardonnay.  In the hands of the best producers, it produces wines that are dry, flavorful, and complex; and at prices usually less than fifteen dollars!  It should have a bouquet of honeyed, stoney, apple and orange scented fruit as well as the elegant flavors of apples and light citrus in the wine itself.  Very versatile indeed with food, we've found it to be particularly good with soft shell crab, and indeed with most crabmeat dishes.  Best in the world Pinot Blancs come from Alsace, France.             Pinot Gris is a grape capable of creating wine to rival the great Chardonnays.  Although again seen as it's zenith in Alsace, this grape has seen a big surge in popularity recently in wines from Oregon and Washington state, with a dramatic increase in the quality level.  It's style suggests pairing it with foods similar to how you would use big Chardonnays, namely with richer fish dishes and the like.  Flavors to anticipate include a big buttery, creamy sometimes smoky nose, with great power and presence on the palate.  Another grape from which you can create exceptional dessert wines.             Pinot Grigio is the greatly popular Italian white grape, not to be confused with Pinot Gris.  Pinot Grigio should be light, bright, and drunk young, when its fruit and freshness are at their best.  Very refreshing and a delight to have with shellfish like claims in a light lemon butter.  Not a complex wine, and thankfully not to expensive either.             Viognier is a grape that if you haven't already heard of and tried, we think you will in the near future.  Although until very recently a rare grape confined to very small areas in the Rhone Valley, it is seeing a terrific renaissance in the vineyards of California.  Although the homegrown versions are a little pricey, there are some Viogniers from the south of France that are completely affordable and that merit trying if you're looking for something a little different.  You should anticipate a bouquet of beautiful peach and honeysuckle fruit scents, a luscious silky mouthfeel, and quite a high alcohol content.             Moving on to the red wines, some of the best wines in the world for food pairing especially are from Italy, and especially from Tuscany where the most popular are the wines of Chianti.  Made mostly from Sangiovese, and usually blended with wine from the cannaiolo grape, and a little white wine made from Trebbiano, Chianti varies so much that it would be very difficult to pin it down; but it is generally a medium bodied wine with a fragrant nose.  There exists in modern Tuscany terrific diversity in style.  Sangiovese, however, is the only grape in Brunello di Montalcino ('Brunello' being the local name for the 'Sangiovese Grosso.'             In the other great Italian red wine district of Piedmont, the predominant grape is Nebbiolo in both the wines Barbaresco and Barolo. Their deep and concentrated flavors are almost always accompanied by tannin and a high alcohol content.             The other grapes most commonly used in Piedmont are the Barbera, making wine of little tannin but lots and lots of juicy cherry rich fruit and great acidity; and the Dolcetto, again a grape of little tannin, but also low acidity.  Light and refreshing fruit flavors would encourage drinking this wine young.             No discussion of red wine could be kept away from France, and the two great red wine districts of Bordeaux and Burgundy.  The red wines of Bordeaux are made primarily from the Cabernet Sauvignon as indeed are so many great red wines from California.  The grape can produce wine with flavors including those of blackcurrants, chocolate, cedar, tar, leather, minerals, herbs, tobacco and earth.  Dark in color and astringent, it provides the structure and framework for the great wines of Bordeaux.  Foods to avoid with Cabernet include high acid dishes. like tomato sauces, and high fat foods like creamy cheeses.  Perfect with beef and game meats.             Merlot, on the other hand, produces wines much lower in tannin and acidity than Cabernet, and as a rule, the more merlot in the blend the younger the wine will mature.  Common flavors include the scents of plums, black cherries, toffee and tea.  Merlot provides the fatness and opulence in blended wines and it also provides a high alcohol level.  Wines made primarily from Merlot are enjoying tremendous popularity, as they are very approachable early, and exhibit such attractive characteristics.  Merlot is particularly good with lamb, and rosemary.             Still in France, we'll take a look at the great red grape of Burgundy, the Pinot Noir.  A distressingly fickle and difficult grape to work with, however when in the hands of a good winemaker, Pinot Noir can be thrilling!  A good wine will exhibit a medium to dark ruby color, and an intense nose of red and black fruits, herbs, earth and floral scents.  Excellent with roasted fowl, especially duck, and can be wonderful with lightly smoked meats, the smoky flavors echoing flavors in the wine itself.             Syrah is the main red grape in the wines from the Rhone Valley, which of course include the wonderful wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cotes du Rhone, and Hermitage amongst others.  In Australia, where the Syrah also does remarkably well, the grape is known as Shiraz.  One should expect dark and rich fruit flavors like blackcurrant and black cherry with lots of body and a good spicy, peppery finish.  It goes very, very well with game foods, including wild boar and venison; and also with good spicy sausage...great with spicy pizza!  Syrah does well in California too; in certain pockets, most notably in northern countries.  A very versatile food wine, especially in a good Cotes du Rhone, Syrah can face almost any red wine demand.             We must now talk about the world envied and exciting grape that has become an American original, the Zinfandel.  A generous giver of fruity. rich and spicy wines, that vary in weight all the way up to port-like depth.  This is another wine that does remarkably well with spicier and more robust foods, a big zin can really be a fulfilling accompaniment to a meal.  Definitely a red meat compliment, nonetheless lighter style zins can be the ULTIMATE pizza wine!!             Gamay is the grape that is the beautiful base for the light, bright and delicious wines from Beaujolais.  Varying in weight slightly from area to area within Beaujolais, the grape still shows the most vivid of floral scents including roses and violets, and is known for it's delicacy and elegance.  A perfect candidate to do red wine with fish.              Some other more eclectic grape varieties include Mourvedre, most well known in the wines from Rhone and especially Provenca, like 'Bandol.'  Dark, earthy and leathery in aroma with very dark fruit; goes well with black olives, anchovies, game, truffles, etc.  Tempranillo is the red grape of the Rioja in Spain.  Again, a grape that, in the right hands, can produce wines of extraordinary complexity and depth.              Don't forget the joys of Rosé when looking for something a little different, or for a gift for a wine lover.  There  are some excellent Rosé wines being made in California today, although again, it seems that the real classics come from France; from areas like Tavel and the Loire Valley.             All of the grapes that we have mentioned here are not, of course, the only grapes that are used worldwide in winemaking, but we hope that these notes will be of some help to you in choosing a wine for your needs; be it tonight's pasta or pizza; or the most important dinner of the year!