The spicier the food, the sweeter the wine

Sugar and spice and everything nice is not just the stuff of nursery rhymes.

Spiciness balanced by sweetness is a flavor principle that tantalizes taste buds from Thailand to Texas. It's also the key to pairing wine with the foods we love as the weather heats up.

For instance, how do you like your barbecue sauce? Texas-style, with chili powder and molasses, or Carolina-style, with mustard, vinegar and brown sugar? Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme mixes Tabasco and honey, while Kansas City's "Baron of Barbecue" Paul Kirk specifies chili powder and clove honey.

In all cases, spice is balanced by sugar. In Kirk's words: "The key to a good sauce is the balance of its flavors. For every sour note, add a sweet one; for every hot flavor, add something mild."

Around here we have access to a spice chest of flavor from fiery pad thai and spicy eel sushi rolls to peppery German sausage and bold Indian curry. And while they're wildly different, they have something in common: all are enhanced by sweeter whites, such as Gewürztraminer (see "Ross' Choice"), Riesling (produced by Washington's Chateau Ste. Michelle) or chenin blanc (South Africa's Ken Forester.)

The wine's sugar also sticks to the palate forming fireproof protection against spicy heat. Dry wine, by contrast, scrapes the palate, leaving the taste buds vulnerable to three-alarm singe.

If you must drink red with your spicy ribs, ask your retailer for a full-fruit red, low in alcohol and tannin, (both of which ignite the heat in spice.) Beaujolais-Villages (such as Louis Jadot) is a reliable choice.

The final member of this balancing act is a rose. Argentina's Crios Rose of Malbec or France's Chapoutier Cotes de Rhone Rose are delicately sweet, while providing the sturdiness of very light red.