Your Helpful Guide to Wine and Food Pairing

Not sure how to do wine pairings? It can be really tricky, especially if you are a novice wine drinker. In pairing food and wine, you must be familiar with the nuances of the flavors and how to balance the tastes. A good food and wine match will bring out the goodness of the flavors and enhance the unique qualities of the wine and the food.

Red Wine with Red Meat, White Wine With White

The general principle “red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat,” works well in most instances. This is important to remember because a tannic red wine would only overpower, say, a delicate white fish. On the other hand, dry white wine, such as a fresh Viognier, would seem too light when paired with a joint of rare roast beef. While there are exceptions to this rule, they must be really tasty exceptions. For instance, roast chicken, which counts as a “white meat,” goes very well with a fruity red wine. Salmon and fresh tuna are also best served with red.

The Rule of Complements

This one is a bit contemporary than the above principle. To have a great food and wine match, look for a wine with flavor and aroma that brings to mind the trademark flavors of the served dish. For instance, you can pair a slightly sweet seafood, like lobster or crab, with a slightly sweet, rich white wine like a California Chardonnay.

The Rule of Contrasts

This one proves the principle that opposites do attract. This is almost works like the previous principle, but with a twist. It offers more room for experimentation, which can lead to great surprises. Try matching a lean white like a White Bordeaux against a rich, oily fish like bluefish or mackerel to see what I mean.

Remember that these three are guides only. You can try the standard rules first but as you gain more experience and expertise, you may decide to create your own wine and food pairing, that is, according to your delicate taste.

Wine 101 - Wine Serving Tips

Wine Serving Tips!

There are many ideas when it comes to this one but listed below are some basic guidelines to assist you:

- “White wine with fish and red wine with meat” is an idea many claim to work well.

- Red wines should be served at the room temperature, while white wines, roses, and champagnes are served chilled.

- The more flavorful the food, the stronger the wine. While lighter food calls for a lighter wine.

- Wine loves air, which revives its sleeping flavors. It’s highly recommended to open a bottle about an hour prior to serving.

- A bottle of wine should be handled extremely carefully.

- Red wine bottles do not need dusting prior to opening. They are opened on a hard surface. White wines rose, and champagne should ideally be opened in an ice bucket.

- Red wines corks are sniffed to make sure the wine has not spoiled, which can allow the cork to smell badly.   You don’t need to smell white and rose wine corks since the wine was refrigerated.

Now you have a much better understanding of wine by the use of wine 101.