With summer drawing to a close, and for many the preparation and adjustment of another school year, the last thing anyone needs is more stress. With this in mind we thought we might help keep it simple in the kitchen. With all of the fresh produce still readily available, there is still time to enjoy some great summer recipes with friends and family.

Our goal at Vino 100 is to help make wine and food pairing easy. The old adage of white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat is a nice starting point and broad brush view of wine and food affinity.

Grilled Salmon and Zucchini with Red Pepper Sauce

This recipe it is truly one to try with a host of wine options. The focus on the recipe we will share with you in this case has salmon at the core; it works wonderfully as well with pork, turkey, chicken, or simply as a vegetable dish. Should you put a meaty fish at the focus, try the Yangarra Old Vine from the McLaren Vale region of Australia. This wine has an intense raspberry like fruit flavor, but, it is very well balanced and clean; making it an ideal food wine. If a white wine is more to your liking, try the Cantina Lunae Vermentino Colli Di Luni. There is not a great deal of wine from the mountainous Italian region surrounding the city of Genoa, but, it is well worth seeking this one out. It has a wonderfully complex aroma of wild flowers and the flavors are strengthened by a distinct minerality that lifts the flavors for maximum enjoyment.

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops

Pork alone is a versatile food when looking for wines to pair with it, making it easy when deciding which wine you will select…simply, make it something you like. However, we have a couple of interesting wines to try with this recipe. The first is a wine with a solid citric personality that parallels the recipe very well. The Huber Gruner Veltliner from Austria fits the bill perfectly with its clean, crisp vein of citrus fruit and touch of minerality. Be cautious when selecting a red wine as the lemon can be a challenge when matching with a red. There are a couple of options; one is add some apple and decrease the level of lemons in the recipe, this will lessen the crisp and tart aspects of the dish enough to add a Merlot into the enjoyment equation. One we think might be worth looking at is a Northern Italian Merlot from La Tunella, with extremely ripe black fruit flavors along with some tobacco and sweet oak character. It is truly a wine for the aficionado of food and wine pairings, and an exceptional choice for this dish with added apples.

Grilled Rib Eye Stuffed with Blue Cheese

Here are a couple of dishes to try, they may take a little more time to prep and may be better suited for a weekend meal. Cabernet Sauvignon seems on the surface to be a full-bodied heavy wine, but depending on the region of production, it can be surprisingly light when paired with grilled steaks. From Argentina comes a wine that has a ripe flavor that would pair well with a grilled rib eye (or your favorite fine cut of beef) and blue cheese. Crios de Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon has plum and currant flavors which are joined by accents of dark chocolate and some vanilla-scented oak that will stand up to the tender steak and tangy blue cheese.

Grilled Cilantro Salmon

If it is seafood rather than meat on the menu, you may want to try this lively and slightly spicy preparation that works very well with meaty fish such as Tuna or Salmon, and even a Cod loin if a white fish is more to your liking. Depending on where it's grown, Sauvignon Blanc can be light with an herbal flavor component or sweet and tropical. The Matetic Sauvignon Blanc EQ from the San Antonio Region is grown in Chile near the Pacific Ocean giving it a crisp and fruity taste that would pair well with Grilled Cilantro fish dishes. The simple seasoning and the cilantro in this recipe add a hint of flavor without being overwhelming to this dish, while the wine adds a beautiful dimension.

Stop by your local Vino 100 for these, or other great wines you are certain to enjoy during your last days of summer, or simply to explore all the terrific wines they have to share and taste with you in discovering the wonderfully enjoyable world of wine.