'White Wine With Seafood' Rule Is No Fish Story

Study suggests wine aficionados often skip the meal

(NEWSER) - We’re always hearing that this wine goes with that food, and feel guilty when we get it wrong—but what if it’s all a scam? asks Jason Wilson in the Washington Post . A new study suggests it might be: More than 60% of wine sipped by “high-frequency wine drinkers”—those who drink wine several times weekly—isn’t accompanied by a meal. It just goes to show, argues wine blogger Alder Yarrow, that the chatter over correct pairings is propagated by the wine establishment, perhaps as a moneymaking move. "For every glass carefully chosen to go with a specific dish, there appear to eight more consumed in the same way most people drink a scotch," writes Yarrow at Vinography . More»

Riesling, Oregon, Costieres de Nimes, and Kermit Lynch are your friends

(NEWSER) - Ordering wine in a restaurant can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. "Quit being afraid of wine!" wine blogger Nilay Gandhi writes for The Awl . "There's one truth to that wine list you're so terrified to negotiate: it's full of baloney." You can't go wrong by ignoring half of the vintages on it, which are "show wines. Stop ordering them." More»

Expect your cocktails to be herbal, matched with food, and cold

(NEWSER) - Absinthe and other speakeasy libations are so last decade. Now that craft cocktails are mainstream, what will the next 10 years bring to the hottest watering holes? Derek Brown of the Atlantic looks into his crystal ball:

• Food pairings: They're not just for sommeliers anymore. "Expect to see cocktails accompanying your food in 2010."

(NEWSER) - You might suspect a sushi restaurant that doesn’t specify what sort of tuna you’re eating of trying to pawn off an inferior species. Not so. Researchers using novel DNA barcoding technology found that though nearly a third of tuna sold in 31 US restaurants was the prized—and endangered—bluefin. But just 8 of the 22 bluefin samples were accurately labeled. More»

Owner lays down the law with these rules for staff

(NEWSER) - The seafood restaurant Bruce Buschel is building will have excellent service—or else. Some staff members, he acknowledges, "will no doubt protest some or most of what follows," but he's the boss, and he presents 50 rules in his New York Times blog. A tasting menu:

• "Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait."
• Make sure the table is level and the wine glasses clean before anyone sits down or orders a drink.