Wine and Food Pairing:
What You Need to Know
There is an infinite array of possible wine and food pairings, so I have put together a few pointers that will help you select the right wine pairing to match your food. These are basic rules of thumb that are normally followed when picking a wine to match with your meal. However, nothing here is set in stone, so always make sure you drink what you like best, not what you think is the "proper" food and wine pairing.
In addition to pairing wine with food, there is another great way that wine can help spice up your food...have you guessed what it is? Cooking with wine, of course! Wine has been used as a cooking ingredient for hundreds of years, and is still used by master chefs all over the world.
After you read all of my wine and food pairing tips, go to my cooking with wine page and learn the basics of how to use wine in cooking. In addition, I have a page dedicated to wine recipes, with a ton of great recipes of my own, and some goodies submitted by my visitors, that use wine as an ingredient. Check them out!
Now, read on to get all of my pairing tips and practice up before your next dinner party or wine club tasting!
Balance
Generally, when considering a wine and food pairing, it is best to pick a wine that balances the natural flavors of the food. Spicy, flavorful food should be paired with a spicy, flavorful wine. On the other hand, a mild, neutral dish should be paired with a mild, neutral wine. Makes sense right?Most beef dishes would be considered a fatty, flavorful dish, so they pair well with charismatic red wines like big Cabs and Zinfandels. Rich, creamy pasta sauce would be better suited to match wih a rich Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc.
Acidity
Acidic dishes like pasta with tomato sauce pair well with a wine that is also high in acidity, like a Chianti. However, this same Chianti will overpower a mild seafood dish or a rich creamy pasta sauce. So, try to match the acidity level of the wine to the acidity in your food. For fish with an acidic lemon sauce, try pairing with a similarly acidic Sauvignon Blanc.
Palate Cleansing
Wines contain natural tannins which have an astringent flavor. This flavor makes your mouth pucker when you drink it, and the tannins cleanse your palate of the fats from your food. "Cleansing your palate" leaves your sense of taste clear and ready to fully enjoy the next bite. This property of tannins as a palate cleanser is especially useful in meat and steak dishes, which are higher in fat.For white wines, acidity achieves the same affect as tannins in red wine. You may want to pair an acidic white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc with a fatty dish. Acidity will also take away from salt, so the palate cleansing nature of these wines works especially well with a salty dish. Keep in mind, however, that these acidic wine do not pair well with anything creamy, like an alfredo sauce. This makes sense if you think about it; you wouldn't want to mix an acid like a lime with your milk would you?
More Information
Here is a site that I stumbled upon that is dedicated to wine and food pairing. They have a great tool that allows you to pick specific foods, and then recommends a wine to pair with it, and vice versa.
Click here to go to foodandwinepairing.org.
Use these wine and food pairing tips as guidelines, but make sure to experiment yourself. Try a few different wines with your dish and pick the one that you like best. Remember, the purpose of pairing wines with food is the increase your own enjoyment of the meal. So, don't be afraid to try different pairings, even if it breaks the rules, and drink what you like best. Be sure to share some of your favorite pairings in the comments section below. I'll tell you my favorite: dark chocolate with Cabarnet, mmmm. Nothing beats
chocolate with wine
!
Want to make your own website like this one? It's not that hard!
Would you like to know how I made this website, how much money it makes me, and how to set up your own profitable online business? I used a program called Site Build It (see video below), and I'm glad I did. Before I started I knew literally nothing about websites; all I knew was I wanted to write about wine and maybe make a few extra dollars. Well, it's been about a year since this site started and I am blown away by the success of the site, the great responses I get from my readers, and the money I am able to make with the site. If you are interested in learning more, read my
About Me
page to learn all about it.
Didn't find what you're looking for? Search Google:
Leave "Wine and Food Pairing" and return to Wine and Food
Return to the Wine-In-A-Glass.com Home Page
Have A Great Story About This Topic?
Do you have a great wine pairing suggestion? Share it!
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
|
Click, sit back, and