Virtually no end of breakfast options and the perfect wines to accompany each

Breakfast may or may not be the most important meal of the day, but it is certainly the most versatile.

Breakfast can include fruits and vegetables, fats and proteins, starch and sugar; they can be hot, cold, humble or celebratory; Continental, English, the Ulster Fry of Northern Ireland or Hawaii's Loco Moco.

And in our dynamic urban environment, with its bevy of lifestyles and activities, it's always breakfast somewhere.

Luckily, wine's versatility complements breakfasts of all flavors and time frames.

Sparkling wine is the prime choice for breakfast. Light in alcohol and flavor, sparklers are easy on the palate and the sobriety. While light in body, a sparkler's “scrubbing bubbles” uplift the richest food flavors and textures, refreshing the taste buds. And, with a splash of orange juice (for a Mimosa cocktail), white peach nectar (Bellini) or other fruit juice, your bubbly is both delicious and nutritional.

Champagne, once the commonplace quaff in the lavish lifestyle of Russian Tsars, is classically served with cured seafood (salmon, sturgeon and herring) and blini (a Russian version of the French crepe.) Check with your wine merchant for spectacular end-of-year discounts, or ask for:

Champagne Palmer & Co., Rosé Reserve (about $60) is both inviting and elegant, with dry-ish strawberry-like flavors, creamy mouthfeel and pleasing acidity. For breakfast, serve with cured seafood platters, quiches and omelets. To mirror the wine's color as well as near-sweetness, serve with borscht (the Slavic beet soup), topped with sour cream, accompanied by black bread.

Regardless of perpetual “Champagne cocktail” recipes, true Champagne's complexity and price tag should discourage the addition of fruit or juice. Turn instead to value sparklers from Italy (including prosecco) and Spain.

In northern Spain, tiny eateries called “xampanyeria” (pronounced shahm-PAH-neria), feature an ever-changing kaleidoscope of tapas and cava, Spain's fine sparkler.

For a breakfast buffet, serve a tapas selection — such as chorizo and cheese tortilla, prawn and bacon brochettes, barbecued ribs, cheese, olives and cured ham — with cava, one of the world's great quality-values. Under $15, excellent examples abound including Codorniu and Segura Viudas. For extra elegance at about $20, ask for Raventos, I Blanc L'Hereu Reserva Brut.

Red wine is the go-to choice for red meat (see Good Wine from Nov. 21, 2016, for guidelines), but vegetarians can enjoy red wine with a breakfast rich in fat and protein.

Choose an omelet, frittata or quiche recipe full of bell pepper and green herbs to enhance the herbal flavor of reds from the Languedoc (France) and Chianti (Italy).

Lamole di Lamole, Chianti Classico (about $20) combines flavors of Mediterranean herbs with ripe plum, balanced tannin and a dash of oak to pair with rich breakfast recipes including herbs and bell or chili peppers.

For a fantastic quality and value from the Chianti region, ask for Il Bastardo, Sangiovese (about $10.)

Steak and eggs pair with the wines above, as well as richer reds with deep fruit balanced by soft tannin, including many merlots and Portuguese reds.

Bife com ovo a cavalo is Portugal's signature breakfast of deep-fried steak and sunny side up eggs. Don't fight the logic of serving with Portuguese red. While unknown today, heat-loving Portuguese grapes are popping up in international vineyards as winegrowers adapt to climate change. Ask your merchant for recommendations or look for the great quality-value Charamba (under-$10.)

For breakfast cakes and pastries, follow the guideline “sweeter for the sweets,” else your favorite dry wine will taste thin and sour paired with a sweet dish.

For ultimate decadence, pair a sweeter breakfast with dessert wine, including Ross's Choice.

Or swing back around to sparklers and pop Italy's fabulous fizz Moscato d'Asti (under-$15) or the extra-value bubbly, Mosketto (under-$10.)

• Write to Advanced Sommelier and Certified Wine Educator Mary Ross at food@daily herald.com.

Ross' choice

Name: “Ben Rye” Passito di Pantelleria

Region: Sicily, Italy

Producer: Donnafugata

Vintage: 2014

Availability: At wine and spirits chains and boutique shops, about $40 per 375 ml

(Distributed by: Breakthrough Beverage of Illinois, Cicero)

“Candied citrus, honey and fig flavors, balanced with refreshing acidity for mouthwatering sweetness. Grown on Pantelleria (an ancient volcanic island south of Sicily) from one of the planet's most ancient grapes (Muscat of Alexandria, locally dubbed Zihibbo). This wine is made using traditions recognized by UNESCO for “intangible cultural heritage,” passito is a pre-Roman technique of air drying extra-ripe grapes, then pressing drop-by-drop for strong sweetness. Serve with sweet breakfast treats including Sicily's brioscia con gelato, a buttery brioche filled with ice cream or as a vino da meditazione to contemplate dolce far niente — sweet idleness.”