With so many ‘right’ choices at hand, there is nothing intrinsically difficult about wine and food pairing. It’s mostly a matter of learning your own taste and trusting it. Rather than attempting to squeeze the infinite possibilities into one-size-fits-all rules, we suggest you let the basic components of taste and flavor be your guide. The two fundamental approaches to matching wine and food are:
Mirroring Tastes Contrasting Tastes
Wines and food with similar tastes work well together because their flavors and textural components reinforce each other. A spicy, marinated grilled lamb served with a bold, flavorful sauce and accompanied by a strong Zinfandel, Cabernet or Rhône blend is a good example of pairing for similarity.
Contrasting wines and foods can also be compatible. Here, opposing flavors, tastes and textural components play off each other, creating new flavor sensations in the mouth and cleansing the palate. For an example of a contrasting taste pairing, try hot & spicy chicken curry matched with an off-dry rosé. The slight sweetness of the wine serves as a delicious and refreshing foil for the spice of the stew.
We should note that while ‘compare’ and ‘contrast’ are both good approaches to food and wine pairing, ‘sort of similar’ and ‘sort of different’ matches tend to be much less successful. Many of the best food and wine pairings result from taking a stand. Be bold in your choices, and you may create a match made in heaven. At worst, a miscalculation will teach you more about your own tastes for the future.
Basic Taste Components
To make great wine and food matches, it is critical to understand that the perception of wine flavor is grounded in food’s basic tastes. All food flavors within our range of tastes can be described as combinations of the four basic components: tartness, sweetness, saltiness and bitterness. Since wine is a food, it follows that the same is true for the flavors of wine. Let’s take a look at how the four taste components of wine affect our enjoyment of food.
Tartness
Acidity is the single most important issue in matching wine with food. Oddly, the easiest way to judge acidity is by sensation: acidity has the opposite effect on the tongue as that produced by sweetness. Red or white, any wine that leaves your mouth feeling dry and crisp is called acidic. Whereas a glass of whole milk coats the mouth with a warm sweetness, tea with lemon makes it feel fresh and clean. Acidity in wine affects wine and food pairing in the following ways:
Sweetness
Residual sugar, that which is left in the wine after fermentation has been stopped, is present in all wines. Even wines that are considered ‘bone dry’ may well have a certain amount of sugar in their chemistry. The perception of sweetness in wines is governed by two factors: residual sugar and level of acidity. Low acid wines often seem sweeter than they really are, while higher acid wines can mask higher levels of residual sugar. Off-dry wines (those that retain a touch of sweetness) are often perfect for pairing with certain foods. Typical off-dry wines include many Rieslings, Gewurztraminers and lighter style Chenin Blancs. A few tips on the effects of sweetness in wines:
Saltiness
Saltiness is the great craving taste component of the tongue. Most people salt nearly all savory foods. Salt can cut and accentuate sweetness. While wine itself is not salty, its effect on salty food can be dramatic. When pairing with salty foods, be aware that:
Bitterness
Though it may sound odd, bitterness in wine is not necessarily unattractive. Bitterness can add balance, character and appealing flavor components. A number of factors contribute to a wine’s relative bitterness, including how the wine grapes are crushed and fermented, how much and what kind of wood it is exposed to during fermentation and aging, and so forth. The most common source of bitterness in a wine is the level of tannins, which are naturally bitter. The higher the tannin level, the more bitter the wine.
Alcohol and Oak
Other important elements that affect the basic taste of a wine and its ability to be paired with a given food are the level of alcohol and the use of oak barrels for aging. Alcohol gives the wine a sense of body and weight. Generally speaking, the higher the alcohol, the more full-bodied the wine. A low alcohol wine (7 to 10 percent) seems lighter in weight and texture in the mouth than a high alcohol wine (13 to 15 percent). The perception of alcohol can also be exaggerated by heat (i.e. cayenne, capsicums, etc.) and salt. When it comes to body, a good rule of thumb is to match wines and foods of equal weight. Rich meat, fish or chicken dishes that include cream are well suited to full-bodied wines like rich Chardonnays. In contrast, a light, simply prepared fish dish would be overpowered by a massive, oaky wine. The amount of time spent in oak aging affects wine because oak, like grapes, contains tannins, which are naturally both bitter and astringent, and transfers these to wine stored in oak barrels. Food, in turn, can exaggerate the oak flavors in wine.
Two guidelines for pairing food with wines that have a dominant oak flavor are: