My Life

By Lynne Thompson and Terry Troy

Serving Wine with Barbecue

Yolanda Albergottie observes that most wine lovers revert to serving their favorites with barbecue. And that may not be the best choice.

the watermelon,” Albergottie, the sommelier at Chuck’s Fine Wines in Chagrin Falls, says. “When you put that all together, that’s a lot of different flavors. There are some wines that pair better with that combination than others.”

Yolanda Albergottie

“When I think of barbecue, what I think of is more like the whole scene of it all: the ribs, the chicken, the burgers, the hotdogs, the potato salad, all the other salads,

My Earth

Her top picks for pouring with anything that might end up on a backyard barbecue plate are:

Chateaumar Cotes du Rhone Rose 2022 ($17.99). “You want a wine that’s able to stand up to the spiciness of a barbecue sauce but still not overpower potato salad,” Albergottie

Reducing School Lunch Waste

says. “And the one wine that can do that beautifully is rose.” Her favorites are made of or ganic syrah, gren ache and/or mourvedre grapes grown in the Rhone Valley of southern France. “They make roses that are full, yet crisp, with minerality, flavors like strawberry, sometimes watermelon. If you’re looking at a fuller-bodied [rose], you can even get some of the berry notes.”

Santinori Assyrtiko 2021 or 2022 ($30.99). White wines made from assyrtiko grapes grown in the emerging wine region of Greece “are some of the best wines for any type of meal you could imagine,” Albergottie raves. “The acid level is great, so it cuts through the fat of pork. It’s very crisp, mild in flavor [with a] dry finish, very mineral. All of those things make it a great food wine.”

Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel Blend 2019 ($31.99). As a hostess, Albergottie always chooses a full-bodied red or blend of zinfandel, petit sirah, syrah and/or cabernet sauvignon. This one is “always full, rich, little bit of spicy, little bit of smoke” — characteristics that complement rather than contrast the flavors produced on the grill or in the barbecue pit. —LT

Fill insulated bottles rather than buy juice boxes and bottled waters.

Carin Miller

Back to school means back to packing lunches. Carin Miller, an education specialist with the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, says, “there’s definitely room for improvement” in reducing the trash they generate. And her tips for doing so can pay for themselves over time.

Ditch the brown bags. Contrary to what many people believe, only clean, dry brown paper bags are recyclable.

Miller suggests checking out the wide range of reusable lunch bags. “[There are] lots of fun ones for kids, kind of like the old lunch boxes, with characters from different cartoons, popular shows,” she says. Many are insulated and come with a reusable ice pack. “Pick something durable that’s easy to wipe down or wash,” she advises.

Replace plastic bags/foil/ waxed paper. Miller notes that there’s a reusable plastic or steel container for anything anyone might want to carry. Insulated containers keep yogurt, applesauce and cottage cheese cool and soups steaming hot. For those who prefer zipper-type bags, she recommends switching to the silicone ones now on the market. “They are dishwasher safe,” she says. “And you can put anything in there.”

Washable fabric bags lined with plastic and secured with Velcro are another option.

Create single servings from full-size packages. Buying a family-size bag of, say, popcorn and divvying it up into one of the aforementioned containers can eliminate days’ worth of individual bags, along with the box and/or plastic in which they are sold. Miller’s recommendation extends to beverages.

Use utensils from the kitchen cutlery drawer. High-quality plastic knives, forks and spoons can be hand-washed and reused. “Eventually, things will break, and you’re going to have to replace them,” Miller says. —LT