Trying to successfully pair wine and food is a difficult and challenging task that see’s many people take a vastly different approaches.
There are the people who don’t care at all about what they are eating and drinking. “Food is fuel. I eat what I want. I drink what I want. Grab the bottle that’s closest to you and let’s get some grub inside of us.” Then there are also the people who are looking for the ultimate food and wine pairing, who want to take their time to taste every beautiful mouthful and wash it down with the perfect flavour alongside their meal.
Wine can be daunting. There are loads of wine-producing countries, hundreds of grape varieties, thousands of regions and many thousands of producers. But just because wine is often daunting to the newcomer doesn’t mean you should be intimidated.
If you would like to find out more about the best foods to pair with your wines, read on.
Match the food and wine flavours
Consistently match flavours in the wine with flavours in the food. If the wine has a smoky or oaky aroma, then serve it alongside a smoky meal that will complement its taste. If the wine has a hint of dark berries, then make a sauce that contains similar berries in order to match the wine and the meal. Pairing wines and food is all about making tastes that match that people will be ab le to appreciate..
Opposites attract when matching your foods
If you have learnt anything from the Chinese, it’s that sweet and sour complement each other very well. You will be able to create a beautiful meal by pouring yourself a large glass of beautifully sweet and fruity wine alongside a salty dish for dinner.
High tannin complements fat
If you decide that you want to have a quick glance at your wine racks made of oak and retrieve a bottle that has high tannin, then a nice pairing is to serve foods which fatty proteins, like duck, to balance out all of the fats and acids with it. Keep all of the sauces condensed and well-cooked as too much alcohol highlights the tannin. Low tannin wines work well with light white proteins.
High acidity matches acidic foods
If you have decided to serve a wine with a rather high acidity. You may want to make a meal with an equal amount of acidity to compliment the dish. This means not using too much salt so you can highlight the wine and compliment it nicely.
Heavy wine with heavy foods
The perfect pairing with heavy wine is, naturally, heavy food. The golden rule is that the heavier the wine is, the heavier the food can be. Heavy wines are perfect pairings for meat, roasted or in stews. Meats like wild boar will stand up to a heavy wine.
Delicate wine with delicate foods
Similarly to foods that work well with heavy wine, delicate wine, that you may serve on a wine tasting display rack, needs delicate food and cooking. All food that is going to be eaten with alongside delicate wine has to be simple. Deep fried meals can ruin a delicate wines flavour. Make sure you know what delicate foods pair well with delicate wines as you can make a mistake quite easily.