What you should have learned in school... Were you paying attention.

All due respect to Michael Feldman for the title, but I find articles like this increasingly more often and at the same time, increasingly less informative.

Italian wines complement several foods nicely

I understand that the author was probably afforded precious little 'copy' for this assignment but couldn't she have expanded just a bit as to why Italian wines are so food friendly.

Want to know why? Acidity. That's right, all that crap that your chemistry teacher was yammering on about actually had some worth.

Just to recap: Acid is the opposite of a Base. And conversely, bases are the antithesis of acids. This is precisely why German Rieslings pair so well with spicier dishes, the residual sugar in the wine cancels out the acids in the spice of the food. And when you're grilling that steak, the acidity in the Italian red helps counter the fattiness in the meat.

From the article:

Be it rich, hearty minestrone soup or refreshing gazpacho, an Italian wine will work.

The only reason I include this is because I would be curious to know what the Spanish would think about Gazpacho being Italian.

Not much, I suspect.