A recent newspaper article said many older Americans' diets are deficient in protein, which was an issue for me decades ago when my wife (and then I) adopted a vegan diet.

Not only did that choice make it more difficult to get the proper protein-rich foods, but it also made wine choices more difficult.

Red wine, especially, is much better with meat dishes. I tried vegan dishes with red wine and found few matches particularly unappealing. But not all meat dishes work with all red wines.

Different wines call for different protein sources, a topic I investigated decades ago and which has changed slowly over the years.

It was once said that white wine went best with fish and red wine went with meat. And although that is still generally true, some distinctions must be pointed out for maximum enjoyment.

Such as some seafood is best with red wine, and some meat is best with white wine!

For example, most cabernet sauvignons are astringent and work best with meats like char-grilled steaks. But lighter meats, like rare roast beef, are better with light reds, like Beaujolais or lighter pinot noir.

In fact, I believe the best match for poached, steamed or lightly done salmon is pinot noir, but grilled salmon often works nicely with a red Loire Valley wine of cabernet franc like Chinon.

Salmon, with its high oil content, acts less like fish and more like a light meat — and roast pork loin acts more like chicken and may call for a classic dry chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, depending on the seasonings used.

Red-sauced dishes (pasta, eggplant Parmesan, chicken cacciatore) are best with a medium-weight, red with good acidity like barbera or Chianti; merlot can work here, too, but avoid heavier or high-alcohol reds.

Hearty beef stews can stand up to the richness of darker red wines like petite sirah, zinfandel, or syrah.

Creamed soups, like mushroom or crab bisques, usually call for a teaspoon or tablespoon of oloroso sherry added to the dish. I often then sip a small glass of the same sherry with the soup!

And when having dishes that feature ham, I typically recommend a dry rose wine, which seems to be compatible with most people. Plus, the colors match!

If you are having a vegan/vegetarian or even a medium-weight seafood dish, one idea that I came up with some years ago, before I abandoned veganism, works well.

When having a low-protein dish that doesn't have enough richness to go with red wine, add about a tablespoon or even more of extra-virgin olive oil to the dish. In most cases, it enhances the flavors of the dish, and it has been proven that extra-virgin olive oil is usually healthful for most people.

To find out more about Sonoma County resident Dan Berger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Lefteris kallergis at Unsplash