Iwas in Greece the other week for what I appreciate few of you would regard as work, and every winery we visited offered some kind of food at our tastings – usually a selection of cheeses, a few olives, assorted dips and spreads, and addictive, sesame-coated breadsticks. It’s much the same in Spain, but rare in the UK, where you’d be lucky to get so much as a water biscuit at a professional wine tasting. The theory seems to be that food somehow detracts from your ability to assess a wine, but why taste it in isolation when almost every reader will probably drink it with food? Even if you’re not having a full meal, it’s nice to sit down in the evening with a glass and a snack of some kind. The Greeks and Lebanese have their meze/mezze, Spain has its tapas, and Venetians their cichetti, while even the French generally run to a few slices of saucisson and a cornichon or two. Wine is just so much nicer with a nibble, after all. While you obviously don’t want to stress too much about finding the perfect match, the fact is that some wines work better than others with certain foods. Anchovies, for example, are much better with a fino or manzanilla or crisp white than with a full-bodied red. Similarly, a juicy red tends to be more enjoyable than a glass of rosé with a slice of pizza. Anything fried and crisp, even a piece of KFC, is brilliant with sparkling wine, just as it is with beer. (I’ve recommended a really nice crémant below, but given that it’s Eurovision finals weekend, you might want to splash out on a bottle of Kylie prosecco, which generally seems to sell for at least a couple of quid more than the competition. The power of celebrity, eh?) Cheese is the interesting one in the snacks context. Everyone automatically thinks of red to go with a cheeseboard, but white actually works just as well, particularly in summer, when you might be eating lighter cheeses. Goat’s cheese, for example, is a natural soulmate for sauvignon blanc, as you’ll probably know already if you’ve ever holidayed in the Loire, but English dry whites such as bacchus and pale, Provençal rosés are great with it, too. I generally go for a white with a dip such as whipped feta (after my Greece trip, I’m a bit obsessed with the stuff) or my not-so-secret vice, namely Boursin and crackers. An aromatic white works much better than a red with stinky, washed-rind cheeses such as Epoisses, too, while a sweet wine such as a sauternes is delicious with a blue. You go for it! Wines that go well with a snack Williiams & Humbert Alegria Manzanilla £5.75 a half-bottle Waitrose, 15%. Nothing changes much in the world of sherry, including (happily) the price. Super-dry and saline. Serve well chilled with anchovies or other fishy tapas. Simmonet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne £15 (or £12 for Clubcard members) Tesco, 12%? A light, fresh sparkling wine. Perfect with anything crisp and crunchy such as fried chicken or fish and chips. The Society’s Greek White £8.95 The Wine Society, 12.5%. Irresistibly moreish Greek white to sip with your tarama. (Get in quick, though, because practically everyone I know seems to be buying it.) Vinos Barco Mencía Menciño 2021 £8.99 (on mix-six) Majestic, 12.5%. An easy, breezy, juicy Spanish red. Would be great with pizza or some chunks of chorizo. Pierre Jaurant Côtes de Thau Rosé 2021 £6.29 Aldi, 12.5%. Crisp, fresh Cap d’Agde rosé that would be ideal with prawn toasts, or a prawn sarnie, come to that.