Junk food, prepare to meet your match

How many times have you been crunching on your favorite chip, and stopped to think about which wine would pair well with said junk food?

Zero? Not shocking, but this is precisely the sort of thing Mike Pierce's overactive brain is working through most of the time.

Pierce, wine director and co-owner of Maverick, strives to make wine fun, approachable and a pleasure to drink at his Mission District restaurant, known for comforting renditions of fried chicken (beautiful with a Claudia Springs Pinot Gris from Anderson Valley, says Pierce), regional American cuisine and the One-of-a-Kind Wine Wednesday seminars he leads each month.

Pierce started as a beer drinker, and he was a beer snob, which led to his connoisseurship of wine. "You still learn what's good and what's bad, and that ultimately helps to create a more sophisticated palate and appreciate the craft."

While at the University of Vermont, Pierce landed at the Sirloin Saloon, an upscale steakhouse, where he discovered wine. "We tasted Coppola Claret, probably a '94, with a New York steak," says Pierce. "I thought, 'Oh yeah, I get it now.' Little did I know that '94 was a great vintage - I've gone back and tasted the wine since, and I still think it's not a bad wine."

Pierce moved to Prague in 1998, and traveled around Europe, really soaking up the sense of place that each bottle of wine provided. "Chianti in Florence, local wines in Barcelona - it was all just local and cheap - but enlightened me to the sense of place of the old vines," he says. "Looking back now ... I feel like I totally wasted that opportunity by drinking the cheapest wine."

From Prague to the Resort at Squaw Creek near Tahoe City and finally to San Francisco in 2001 to open Sociale, this is where Pierce earned his chops and hatched the plan to open Maverick with chef Scott Youkilis in 2005.

Q: It sounds like you got lucky learning from some of your past employers. How do you get your staff ready to speak about wines to customers?

A: Blind tastings are really important, because people are predisposed to thinking something about a wine because of the name. At first, people thought it would be about guessing the varietal ... it's not about that, I just want people to talk about wine in any way that they can. I also encourage them to do as much reading as possible - I keep a wine reading library at the restaurant. I trust them all to sell and represent the wines.

Sometimes you have to show them how, even if they don't like a certain wine. For example, a wine that goes well with the fried chicken, I may say, "You don't like it, but try it with the chicken where it has enough acidity to cut through the fat." Then they get it.

Q: Similar to your own aha moment. How did you get from pairing a classic steak with red wine to looking for the ultimate Cool Ranch Doritos pairing?

A. I'm addicted to Cool Ranch Doritos, and I was being interviewed for an article on comfort foods and wine pairings. I was crunching on Doritos - because I'm completely unprofessional - and the interviewer asked me what I was eating.

I told her I was working on finding a pairing for junk food. I teach a lot about why things work together, so it wasn't so far-fetched.

Q: So what does go well with Doritos? And how did you come to this conclusion?

A: They are hard. They have whey protein, chemicals, MSG - MSG can really throw wine through a loop.

A friend at Sutton Cellars makes a rosé called Rattlesnake Rosé that he leaves on the lees for eight months. It makes it rich and yeasty, but with great acidity. It goes well with Cool Ranch Doritos because it also has enough fruit to cut through the cayenne and pair with garlic and onions. The lees content matched perfectly.

Q: That seemed too easy. I'm going to throw a few at you. What about Krispy Kremes? Salt-and-vinegar potato chips?

A: My first instinct is bubbly. I would say a sparkling Malvasia. I think you need bubbles to clean up the sugar that sits in your mouth, and the fizz in the bubbles does that. Plus, the aromatics of Malvasia are floral, pretty, vanilla, orange blossom; these all match the flavors in the doughnuts. And because the wine is typically dry, it won't dominate.

Salt-and-vinegar potato chips: I don't know, but I'll find out. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking a lean white. Maybe a Sauvignon Blanc would do well with the vinegar since it does pretty well with salad and vinaigrette.

Editor's note: In a subsequent e-mail, Pierce suggested a 2006 Pouilly Fume.

Q: Is there anything you cannot or should not pair with wine?

A: No, I think you could find a wine to go with anything. With Skittles, we had to find completely obscure varietals, so we focused on Austrian whites, which are lean, astringent and a little bitter - a little wacky. With greasy, earthy food - take gravy fries - a 20-year-old Vouvray. It seems that the more obscure and expensive wines seem to go better with cheap junk food.

Q: You said you weren't so into white wines. How'd you change your mind?

A: Moving to California made me appreciate white wines. I fell for a California Viognier - it had the body of a red, but it's floral, rich and easy to get into. It's a good introduction to white.

Q: I hear that you prime your glasses, an old throwback to Sociale. What's that, and why bother?

A: Every bottle, every glass. It's an Italian thing. Since glass is porous it tends to absorb aromas around it, such as old cabinet, dishwasher, etc. To prime, you pour 1/2 ounce into one glass, swirl, then transfer it to the next glass so you are only getting the taste and aroma the wine.

Q: Do people ever yell at you for wasting their wine when you do that?

A: I think the fight-or-flight instinct kicks in when something is happening that people don't understand. We were enhancing the experience, and people were giving us bad reviews, saying we were stuck-up, and why bother with a cheap bottle of wine?

We found that you just have to communicate. I like the ritual, it's unique, and it's useful in the whole program. We've been doing it from day one, and will continue to because ultimately it enriches the customer's experience.

Q: What wine do you think people don't drink enough of?

A: I still people think people don't drink enough rosé - they still have the White Zin relationship in their head. There are three reasons, really, that people don't drink it: One, they are afraid they won't know what to order; two, there are a lot of really bad ones out there because any winery makes a rosé now. It's often fruity and almost sweet, lacking acidity and character. There's no love that goes with it.

Q: And No. 3?

A: Honestly, men ... there is a masculinity factor to drinking pink wine. But it goes with more foods that others don't go with.

Merlot took a beating, for good reason, but there are so many good Merlots out there that three to five years ago were three times the price. Now's the time to buy. Also, Austrian whites, not just the Gruner Veltliners, are just so freaking good, with screaming acidity and interesting mineral characteristics. Drink these with sushi.

Q: Beyond junk food, what's your favorite food and wine pairing?

A: An older Riesling, such as a 1990 Schloss Schonborn Spatlese, high quality, with carnitas. A good Riesling smells like a margarita - it has a lot of lime, earthy, agave smell, and it goes well with foods that margaritas go well with. Here, it pairs with earthy, crispy, spicy, fatty pork butt with cilantro, lime and cumin, which also go well.

Riesling is the answer to everything.

Q: How much do you think is too much to pay for a bottle of wine?

A: I am completely cheap. I would never pay over $200 for a bottle of wine. After that it all becomes ego. The Riesling on my list is $60 to $70, and that wine is as good as a $200 bottle. I think there's a plateau, the quality of the wine moving you or blowing you away.

Also, you don't really taste the wine when you are eating - I mean, you really have to concentrate to taste a wine properly, which means not eating, talking, etc. But, when you taste a phenomenal wine, even if you are a complete novice and in the middle of dinner, it gives you pause. I think that feeling maxes out at $200.

Bottom line, though, is I think you paid too much if it is a wine that doesn't deliver.

Q: Maverick is a cozy neighborhood spot. I bet you have a lot of couples or folks out on dates in there. What's the best date wine?

A: If someone came here and took a chance on a domestic Barbera or a really good Cabernet Franc, something his date hadn't heard of, that goes well with food and is delicious. There is a lot of trust here, and many customers just put those choices into our hands. A girl in this city would be impressed if her date went with an outside-the-box choice. It spurs conversation.

Q: OK, so say the date is going sour. What's a good Mayday wine?

A: Probably the highest alcohol wine we have - a sweet Madeira. It could either change the mood, or just get you drunk and drunker.

By the way, a sweet Madeira goes well with Snickers.

Amanda Berne is a former Chronicle staff writer. E-mail her at wine@sfchronicle.com.