Well, why not? Not everyone likes quiche or caviar but how many people out there love champagne? With quality wine selections becoming more and more affordable, you don’t need to find an excuse to pop open a little bubbly anymore. Why not put away that ugly plastic bottle of coke and touch up your little summer get-together with some classy champagne. You’d be surprised how well its sparkling taste and the salty goodness of chips go together.

You can find this and other wine pairings at www.nataliemaclean.com/matcher. Sauvignon Blanc with your dim sum? Perfect. Un peu de Chardonnay avec your scrambled eggs? Mouth watering. According to renowned sommelier Natalie MacLean, “The old rules about white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat just don’t give enough guidance anymore.” With her unique and user friendly matching tool, you won’t have to aimlessly wander through the aisles of the liquor store any longer. You can search by meal or by wine and MacLean adds more wines and foods based on readers’ suggestions.

If you want a regular dose of wine inspiration, join the 71,000 subscribers to the website and free e-newsletters will find their way to your inbox with tips on how to buy, cellar and serve wine. Alternatively, you can pick up her book, Red, White, and Drunk All Over: a Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass , which was named the Best Wine Literature Book at the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards. Not only will you learn how to pair wine, but you’ll also learn how that bottle of wine came to be. By the time you finish the book, you’ll know how vines are grown, the process of harvesting grapes, the differences between Old World and New World wines, the international business of marketing and selling them, and the power that wine critics wield over wine styles and prices.

In the meantime, enjoy some of MacLean’s favourite fun food and wine matches:

* Popcorn with Chilean Chardonnay
* Nachos with California Zinfandel
* Potato Chips with French Champagne
* Pizza with Italian Chianti
* Fish and Chips with German Riesling
* Hamburgers with Australian Shiraz
* Smoked Salmon with Canadian or Oregon Pinot Noir
* Quiche with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
* Canned Brown Beans with Tawny Port
* TV Dinner Steak with French or Washington Cabernet Sauvignon

Barbecue season is well underway so check out the website to find suggestions for grilled meats and vegetables, as well as summer salads and seafood. If your unusual food is not listed, it certainly doesn’t mean there isn’t a good pairing for it. Email MacLean and she’ll gladly suggest a match for you. Your own personal sommelier? You can’t beat that!

About Natalie MacLean

Natalie MacLean has won four James Beard Journalism Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. Rex Pickett, author of Sideways, says that Natalie “writes about wine with a sensuous obsession” and is “laugh-out-loud funny.” Eric Asimov of the New York Times notes, “Ms. MacLean is the disarming Everywoman … she loves wine, loves drinking … a winning formula.”