By Randall Barnes

A little wine with your harvest?

If you're a big wine and food fan, then you'll have to visit The Maggetti White and Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates Red Wine Gardens in the edible gardens at Copia in Napa.(To find out directions and times go to Copia.org) These gardens serve as living sensory guides. The outside section of each square contains fruits, flowers, herbs, and vegetables representing flavors and aromas often used to describe wine made from a particular grape variety. The inside sections are seasonally planted with vegetables and herbs that complement the wine.

You will certainly be inspired to create a gourmet kitchen garden to match your wine palate in your own backyard. The following is a list of the wines with foods used to describe the taste and foods and flavors that go well with that particular wine.

Cabernet and Merlot:
Foods used to describe the tastes of these wines: black currant, blackberry, black cherry, tobacco, bell pepper, mint, dill, and oregano
Foods and flavors that go well with these wines: beets, green beans, radicchio, black beans, endive, broccoli, eggplant, carrot, dill, basil, rosemary, and sage

Sangiovese:
Foods used to describe the taste: cherry, rose, raspberry, plum, tobacco and olive
Foods and flavors that go well with this wine: tomato, garlic, onion, radicchio, zucchini, basil, sweet pepper, parsley, fennel and cabbage

Pinot Noir:
Foods used to describe the taste: cherry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, plum, tomato, violet
Foods and flavors that go well with this wine: Fig, carrot, eggplant, squash, sweet potato, pumpkin, leeks, beet and fennel

Zinfandel and Syrah:
Foods used to describe the taste of these wines: blackberry, black currant, plum, pomegranate, rose and nasturtium
Foods and flavors that go well with these wines: tomato, eggplant, squash, leeks, olives garbanzo beans

Chardonnay:
Foods used to describe the taste: apple, lemon, peach, pear, melon and gardenia
Foods and flavors that go well with this wine: potato, pumpkin, squash, lettuce, leeks, corn, tarragon, mustard, thyme and turnips

Sauvignon Blanc:
Foods used to describe the taste: green bean, fig, pear, lemon, grapefruit, melon, dill grass and gooseberry
Foods and flavors that go well with this wine: lavender, rosemary, chilies, radishes, zucchini, chard, tomato, spinach and bell peppers

Riesling and Gewurztraminer:
Foods used to describe the taste of these wines: apricot, orange, peach, grapefruit, pear, rose, jasmine, melon, lilac and mint
Foods and flavors that go well with these wines: sweet onion, sweet pepper, fennel, chilies, pea, carrot and lavender

Viognier:
Foods used to describe the taste: orange, apricot, nectarine, lemon, peach and honeysuckle
Foods and flavors that go well with this wine: fig, carrot, sweet onion, sweet pepper, corn, pumpkin, lemon, thyme, cilantro and marjoram

You can create your own gourmet kitchen garden since many of the plants listed in this article are available at Orchard Nursery. Have fun and bon appétit!!!