Combining food & wine is not a science. It has a lot to do with personal inclination and also tastes, wine and dine so there are no cut and completely dry rules.
Sometimes you’ll obtain a pairing that makes you say “WOW!” Likewise, you will occasionally find a pairing that makes your taste buds recoil in anguish. But most pairings fall somewhere in the middle. In fact, most wines deal with a lot of meals, however knowing a couple of fundamental rules could enhance your enjoyment.
Going well with Tastes
Going well with tastes means you are matching the framework of the wine with the structure of the meals. Some instances are:
• Match creamy with creamy– Creamy wines, such as Chardonnay or Viognier, matched with cream-based sauces (pasta or fowl) or a velvety cheese.
• Suit acid with acid– Bright, crisp Sauvignon Blanc is a lovely suit for that fish with a lemon sauce. An excellent guideline– if the recipe or food has lemon or other citrus in it, you’re going to require some acid to match. Great high-acid wines includ Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Albarino, Chenin Blanc, Riesling as well as Chablis.
• Suit pleasant with wonderful– Delicious chocolate cake? Lemon custard? Match a similar wine with the similar food. Rich and dense chocolate cake is a wonderful match to Port or other dark, sweet wines. A light lemon custard looks for sweet and acid, so a Moscato or Muscat-based dessert wine is not also heavy as well as an ideal suit.
Contrasting Tastes
Contrasting flavor means you are trying to counter a taste or structural component in the wine and food. Sometimes this functions, sometimes it doesn’t.
• DO match spicy with sweet– A huge tannic red with fiery chow mien? Not a lot. Take that recipe as well as pair an off-dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer, as well as it’s a party in your mouth. The sweetness of the wine is offset by the spice in the food and rather than tasting sweet, you taste the scrumptious fruit in the wine instead. Pair Riesling, Pinot Gris (Alsace design) or Gewurztraminer with spicy Thai or Indian meals. It’s a wonderful combination.
• DO suit velvety with crisp– Another fun match is to pair a bright acidic wine to cut through a cream-based food. Take creamy cheese. Sparkling wine or Sauvignon Blanc can cut through that cream and bring out the very best flavors in both the meal and also the wine
• DO N’T match tannin with sweet– oh boy, a sweet food will zap all the fruit out of a tannic red and all you’re left with is … tannin. Now tannin is a good thing, but we want to taste it in the REAR OF the wine.
• DO N’T match tannin as well as acid– Go on, take a lemon based sauce on pasta or fish and pair it with a big tannic red. You may seem like someone put braces in your mouth because metallic is the flavor that will be most prominent.
Regional Pairs
Not exactly sure just what to have with a particular food? If you’re having a regional dish, such as pasta bolognese, try pairing it with a regional wine, like Chianti or another Tuscan red. Chances are it will be a good match. Something about the food and wine originating from the very same dirt and area make an excellent pairing!