Have you ever been to a restaurant where the waiter hands you a menu of foods and then an even larger menu of strange French words you can only assume to be various kinds of wines? You point randomly at something you may recognize and the waiter gives you a strange stare. You point again hoping to get it right.
Choosing wines is largely a matter of preference, but there is an art to pairing wines with specific types of foods so that you can enjoy the best experience possible. This can be a tedious ordeal and require years of thought and experience to understand. You may have heard general sayings like red wine goes with meat, white wine with fish, and so on. These are somewhat correct, but fail to cover the vast differences between each type of wine.
Luckily, for those not interested in years of study, here are 7 simple rules that will help you pair your food and wine like a pro.
Rule #1: Sweet with Heat
An excellent and easy to remember saying is “sweet with heat”. Whenever you’re eating spicy food, try mixing it with wines that are somewhat sweet, ie. Riesling. The sugar from these sweeter wines will help cool down the spiciness of the food and give you a perfect balance between the food and drink.
Likewise, it’s best to avoid combining spicy foods with strong or overly potent wines such as an Italian Borolo. These harsher wines will become even stronger and more wood like due to the spicy food. In turn, they will also make the food seem even hotter. Low alcohol content wines like Rieslings go great with spicy Thai or Indian dishes like pan seared chicken curry or coconut toasted shrimp.
Rule #2: Oak with Smoke
Grilled dishes are delicious due to the smoky flavor they achieve from burned wood or charcoal. This smoky flavor goes perfectly well with wines that have been aged in oak barrels and have a similar smokiness to them such as Chardonnay. The flavor of these powerful wines can often be overbearing when paired with subtle or mild foods, however, when combined with grilled or charred dishes the result is an equally intense experience. Grilled meats and veggies help reduce the intense oak flavors as well as bring out other fruity flavors hidden in the wine.
Rule #3: Texture and Flavor Should Match
Combining food and wines that have similar textures will help avoid the shock of going from opposite extremes. The idea is to match mild flavored foods with mild flavored wines and strongly flavored foods with stronger wines. This technique helps the wine compliment the food. For example, Chardonnay is often paired with lobster as they both have a buttery and creamy texture. A French Chablis goes perfectly well with raw oysters as they are both light, delicate, and have a slight saltiness to them.
Rule #4: Acid Goes with Fat
Fried and fatty foods are great in combination with wines that are higher in acidity. For example, Sauvignon Blanc or a tannin-rich Cabernet Sauvignon both are rich and acidic. The acid in these wines will help cut through the fat and oil of fried foods helping balance the flavors in your mouth. These wines also work as a kind of palate cleanser so your mouth is fresh and ready to experience new clean flavors with your next bite.
On the opposite side of the acidic spectrum, you want to avoid pairing acidic wines with creamy foods. Think of it like squeezing lemon into a cup of milk. The smooth creamy flavor of milk will suddenly become tangy and acidic with lemon. This clash of flavors is confusing and often unappetizing.
This combination of acid and fat helps explain why the general rule of pairing red meats with red wines kind of works. A steak and Cabernet go well together because the tannin-rich cabernet cuts through the fatty steak and cleans your mouth out for another bite.
Rule #5: Sweet Wines Go Well With Salty Food
Those who have tried sea salt chocolate or chocolate covered pretzels know that throwing a bit of salt into something sweet actually results in a great flavor. This same idea works with sweet wines and saltier dishes. The salty food will actually accent the sweet wine making it even sweeter. The sweet wine will have the opposite effect and reduce the saltiness of the food. Blue cheese and Port wine are a perfect example of pairing opposites to create an even better flavor.
Rule #6: Sweet Wines With Sweet Food
While sweet and salty are a nice mix, sweet with sweet works too. Dessert wines, which are naturally higher in sugar and sweeter than other wines, are best paired with sweet desserts. It is often best to make sure the wine is just as sweet or slightly sweeter than the dessert. If the dessert is sweeter than the wine, the wine will have a sort of flat taste. Complimentary flavors such as a nutty flavored Port go great with nut based desserts as these flavors match and accent one another.
Rule #7: Match Regions
Wines from Spain go well with Spanish food. This may seem obvious, but the idea is to match the wine with a food from the same general region. Not only have these combinations been tested for hundreds of years, which is why the region produces both the food and wine, the raw ingredients that make up both the food and drink usually have more in common. Grapes from a region will have similar flavors as other vegetables and foods from the same region.
Choosing the best wine and food combination doesn’t have to a stressful hassle. Try these simple tips out and see if you enjoy the meal more and always remember that in the end enjoying wine and a meal is all up to your personal preference.
