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Wines that feature high acidity can impress the palate with as much success as unsweetened (and, horror, un-spiked) lemonade: brash, bracing, and bewildering – how can anybody like this shit [crap]? However, if you’re sitting down to some sushi, spicy food, fatty food (be it salmon or sow) or anything with tomato sauce, wines that push acid take on a whole new, and reformed, character. Such wines impact food in different ways that mollify the intrinsic acidity and complement the meal. Usually wines that are high on acid don’t have a lot of oak flavors. Now when we’re just drinking, we like a little oak because its mellow, soft and essentially melting vanilla and coconut, etc flavors make the wine easy on the tongue. But that same oak can ruin a good trip at table.

With sushi, a little acid in the form of Champagne or New Zealand sauvignon blanc acts a complement to the freshness of the food where oak would dampen it. In fact, the slight vinegar cast of sushi rice can clash with oak-laced wine in a way that ruins the harmony of the whole Japanese balance thing. With spice, acid acts as both refresher and enhancer – think about how nice the lime-ladened margarita works with a Mexican feast. When we get to fatty food – that’s a no brainer. Every time you squeeze a little lemon on fried calamari, eat sauerkraut with corned beef, or add a pickle to your cheeseburger, you’re doing acid. The Portuguese know this well – they do acid in the form of the spritzy white Vinho Verde with pork: pork fat and acid? I must be in heaven.

As far as tomato sauce goes, let’s forgive the Godfather [Sopranos] and trust the Italians – they’ve been matching up acidic reds like sangiovese (think young Chianti) and barbera with tomato-based food since I don’t know when. An acidic wine mollifies the natural acidity of the tomato – so both come out of the match tasting mellower and sweeter. And by Jove, if I’m gonna do acid I want to be mellow.

If you want a classic example of this principle, get a log of young goat cheese (Chevre) and a bottle of Sancerre: separately, they’re both way too high on acid; together, wow, do they mellow out.

So take a memo: try acid soon – the food police approve.