Vinho Verde!

As a wine professional, I hear the comments all the time: Many people tend to assume that sommeliers, wine writers, consultants, and the like spend our days drinking $100 bottles of prestigious wine, sniffing and swirling and slurping well into the night. And while many of us certainly do have the chance to taste some remarkable bottlings, we often seek out surprisingly undemanding wines for personal consumption. In this regard, it's like chefs who love burgers and wings and fries when they're not searing up slices of foie gras and opening up oyster shells.

To this end, I heartily recommend Vinho Verde, Portugal's great, inexpensive, supremely refreshing wine that, now that the springtime's heat has arrived, is a perfect refresher on its own and delicious with the lighter foods of the season. Check out this primer, linked up right here, from The Wall Street Journal this weekend. It covers everything except the best pairing (in my opinion) you can have with it: Fresh grilled sardines with olive oil, preferably eaten outside at a cafe somewhere, just like they do in Portugal. I had a chance to experience this a few years ago, and have been longing to get back and do it again ever since.