Sips: More on the Super Bowl food and wine showdown

At least one of my NBC colleagues shook his head when I told him I was preparing a story on wines that would work well at a Super Bowl party with all its varied food possibilities. Like many, he's a beer man when it comes to the big game. But for those of you wondering about wines to serve with a Super Bowl spread, I have some suggestions, plus those of some of my wine friends, in my latest Weekend Wines post on the Bites blog of MSNBC.com. Beyond that, Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg, authors of the new "Food Lover's Guide to Wine" and other books, offered me some of their suggestions.

They write: "For Super Bowl parties, we're all about the flexibility of bubbles for their food-pairing prowess, and all about whites so you don't have to worry if your friends spill on your couch (or you spill on theirs!) during a dramatic moment in the game -- so a good Prosecco would probably be our first choice (even though we also love good cava, we just got back from Italy!)."

Their choice for a red? "In honor of Andrew's hometown team (the 49ers, which was one good kick away from this year's Super Bowl), he'd pour a lighter-bodied, fruity California Zinfandel with the vegetarian chili he's hoping to get around to making."

And their recommendations for some of the most popular Super Bowl fare:

"Chicken wings: sparkling wine; or riesling, syrah/shiraz or zinfandel.

Chili: Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, syrah/shiraz or zinfandel.

Guacamole: Champagne, unoaked chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, torrontes.

Nachos: sparkling wine, torrontes (with white meat), zinfandel (with red meat).

Pizza (pepperoni or sausage): barbera, Chianti, lighter-bodied zinfandel.

Popcorn: Champagne or other sparkling wine.

Fudge brownies and chocolate chip cookies: Banyuls, port or Pedro Ximenez sherry."

Thank you, Karen and Andrew.

Sips: Cheap red wine – discovering an excellent $10 Chianti

For better or worse, we eat a lot of pasta in our house, despite often-expressed waistline concerns based on the narcotic-like effects of good pasta sauces. (How many of us can really resist the temptation to go back for second helpings?) And because we enjoy pasta so much, I often find myself in short supply of good, inexpensive Italian wines, especially reds, which for me are de rigueur for tomato-based sauces.

Budget Italian reds are a hit-or-miss affair, especially in the $10- and-under category. Yes, there are lots of cheap nero d’avolas from Sicily and primativos from Puglia around, not to mention the familiar big-brand Chiantis from Tuscany and Valpolicellas from the Veneto, most of them ordinary. One that rises above that  status is a $10 wine I brought home the other night from my local wine store, Vincenzo Cesani’s 2008 Chianti Colli Senesi “Pancole.”

This estate-bottled wine from a respected grower in San Gimignano also known for its white vernaccia is one of the better budget Chiantis I’ve tasted in recent years. It’s high in acidity (a requirement for good food wines) with spicy cherry and raspberry tastes, a leather note and a  tannic structure often lacking in wines at this price. Slightly chilled, it was a satisfying match for our tomato and meat sauce. Colli Senesi is perhaps the best known of the “other” Chianti appellations and is generally less expensive than Chianti Classico.  Alcohol in this sangiovese-based wine is 12.5 percent. Imported by Montecastelli Selections, New York.

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