Pairing food with wine is an art and a science. Get it right and you are all set for a great evening. Get it wrong, and everything could go simply wrong! What then, are the rules to great wine and food pairings? Here’s your play book.
1. The Law of Equals: Match an exquisite dish with an exquisite wine. A superior quality wine will up the taste of the food served. Simple mundane dish? Pick a simple wine, one that’s not heavily textured.
2. Neutralising the fat: Meats naturally are high on fat. Wines that you serve with meat dishes should be capable of neutralising the flavour of fat. For meat dishes, always choose a wine that is high on tannins or acid content. Light fat dishes pair well with the more acidic wines like Pinot Noir. Heavy dishes are best paired with wines with lower acid content, like say, a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.
3. Go all regional: Always try to pair food and wine from the same region. They have a natural balance because they are designed to go together, say for example, Spanish wines go great with Spanish Paella Valenciana, Bean Stews or Albondigas.
4. Spice balancing: Spicy dish? Complement it with a sweet wine. The point is to neutralize the heat of the food with the wine’s sweetness that will help elevate the dining experience. In this case, refrain from wines with high tannin content as they can irritate the tongue and leave the mouth feeling a little dry.
5. Heavy-heavy: Serving an intense dish? Pick a wine that’s equally intense. If you choose a wine with a complex chemistry between texture and sweetness, you have a success. So the rule here is, heavy wines – heavy dishes, subtle wines – subtle dishes, robust wines with robust dishes…
6. By flavour: Flavours have a great impact on the palate and the way food is conceived by the person consuming it. So how do we pair the wine in this case? Salty and sour flavoured food items complement well with wines. Sweet, savoury or bitter flavours are not entirely made for wine’s company.
7. Choose a wine by ingredients that make up your dish: This one’s complex but a few trial runs can help you master the art of choosing a wine that works best for your dish based on the ingredients that make up the dish. Don’t just blindly pick a wine that’s usually prescribed for the meat, but consider the other elements such as the sauce base, the spices, the kind of starch and vegetables used as well. Choosing a matching wine will elevate the dish several degrees.
8. Sweeten the dessert: When pairing a dessert wine with a dessert, make sure that the wine is sweeter. This will help balance the element of sweetness rather than highlighting its acidity.
9. Mirror the flavours: Wines and foods with similar traits work best together. Say, a slightly peppery/spicy wine works great with a peppery dish.
10. Experiment: And finally, dump the rules and experiment a little. Share your discoveries and make the world a better place for all of us wine lovers.