Snack Food & Le Bernardin ?

One of the charming aspects of The Wall Street Journal is that they often print stories that are really useful in everyday life. Take the challenge of pairing snack food with wine when beer just won't do. In a recent article, writer Katy Laughlin turned to Aldo Sohm, the sommelier at New York's Le Bernardin restaurant and the 2008 winner of the Best Sommelier in the World.

Mr. Sohm was given three snack foods to pair with wine and his suggestions are not only well thought out, but inexpensive. Anyone who has dined at Le Bernardin will find it odd that "inexpensive" and the restaurant are ever mentioned together, but it's true. Here are his pairing suggestions:

Seven Layer Bean Dip = 2008 Heitz Cellar Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley ($ 20.) "The slight mineral touch is good with a starch like beans. It's crispness matches the tomatoes and onions".

Pizza = 2008 Valle dell'Acate II Frappato ($ 20.) "The acid in the wine holds up to the tomatoes in the pizza sauce and it has a minerality and very slight saltiness that cuts through the greasiness of the cheese".

Potato Chips = 2007 Perrin & Fils Reserve Cores du Rhone ($ 8.) "I wanted a wine you can drink all night long because you eat chips all night long".

Sounds good to me.