Let me go right out on a limb and say that I had no idea that food and wine matching was such a passionate practice.

When was I sent the memo that all of this was happening withing the food and wine world?

But people have become ravenously adept at pairing foods and wines.

And in this new world, there are few rules.

In the older days, pasta dishes had to be paired with a red.

Those days are completely over and the wine companies are the ones enabling this exciting new way of thinking. Why indeed should a certain dish automatically be paired with a certain type of wine when really, there are no rules to this that have to be followed! Is this the time to break with centuries worth of tradition to achieve the right food and wine balance?

Absolutely!

And isn't that the absolute fun here?

You now see the cable cooking shows that prepare wonderful recipes and then dare you to pair that up with an unexpected wine.

This is a new world to the old thinkers!

Food and wine matching is now being encouraged to have as much of your fingerprint on it as does your recipe book. The wine companies want you to be daring and bold and they really want you to express how you match your favorite foods with your favorite wines. They want this to be a lot of fun...and you know what...it really should be!

Food and wine matching is now a very daring, very open ended event. let yourself go when you start to dream up a new pairing.

If the old ways are indeed the old ways, let the new ways be all about adventure. Break the mold. Set your own standards.

How you match foods and wines is all about who you are.