With so much talk about the science behind wine and food pairing, it can sometimes feel overwhelming knowing what wine to pair with your meal. And since everyone’s palate is different, there is no easy one-size-fits all solution to food and wine pairing. But rest assured, there are some basic principles that you can learn to make pairing much easier. We’ve provided some basic guidelines that you can use to get started on finding your perfect food and wine pairings.
#1 – Eat & Drink What you Like
At the end of the day, food and wine pairing is about finding combinations that please your palate and eating and drinking what you enjoy. If you don’t like a certain type or style of wine, don’t worry about trying to pair it with your meal. Choose another wine. Pairing should be a pleasurable experience.
#2 – Understand the Basic Tastes
There are five basic tastes that exist: salty, sweet, bitter, sour and umami (or protein). The degree to which any of these tastes dominate your food, will help you determine the best wine to pair with your dish. Sweet and savory tastes in food make a wine taste drier and more astringent while salty and sour tastes in food make the wine taste fruitier and less acidic. As an example, if you are trying to pair a wine with a salty dish, choose an acidic white wine like Sauvignon Blanc. These taste principles put to test the classic chocolate and Cabernet Sauvignon pairing. The chocolate will reduce the fruitiness of the Cabernet as it increases the tannins.
#3 – Balance is Key
Balance is a key principle of food and wine pairing. Match mild wines with mild foods and rich wines with rich foods. A classic pairing – a Pepper Steak with a spicy Zinfandel or Fettuccine Alfredo with a creamy Chardonnay.
#4 – Choose by Region
Wines go best with the foods their region of origin is known for. Although not a hard and fast rule, Italian wines go great with Italian food and French wines go great with French food. This can simplify the process when all else fails.
At the end of the day, don’t forget rule #1 – eat and drink what you like!
Written by Linzi
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