When we choose a wine we want with our dinner, most of the time we simply craft an educated guess on what we presume works with the food we have arranged. We know what seemed to have done the trick in the past and then we might go that route. Or if perhaps we’re at a restaurant and we’re getting a special meal, we would ask the waiter or the sommelier to get a suggestion. It can certainly seem really complex, but even experts come back to three essentials: acidity, body and flavor, with acidity the most significant when pairing food.
In the long run the things we are attempting to accomplish when we pair food with wine are to develop combinations adding to each other. The food ought to increase the flavor of the wine, and likewise the wine should complement the flavor for the meals. Listed below are basic principles that we will utilize to correctly match food and wine:
1. Acidity. White wines become produced from grapes that are harvest earlier within the ripening process. This is the time the acids are usually elevated and the sugars remain undeveloped. These more acidic wines tend to be ideal for seafood or fowl that is marinated in citrus, as well as those that are in cream-based sauces. High acidity wines ought to cleanse the palate and stand up to those flavors in any of your foods.
Low acidity wines are becoming the trend in wine-making, and sadly they aren’t thought of as the ideal partner of food. They may taste great by themselves, yet are considered simpler to produce, as having the appropriate balance for high acidity wines can be more difficult to attain.
2. Body. Certain wines will have a fuller more substantial taste, and it is often based on the characteristic of the grape variety from which that wine will be made in addition to the excellence of the wine on its own. Alcohol level can determine any wines body; wines with a higher alcohol level quite often would have more body.
Generally red wines often have more body, but this isn’t automatically how it is. Chardonnay is a white wine that’s generally full-bodied, though a red wine that is very fashionable, Pinot Noir, is rather light. Nevertheless the Merlots, Syrah’s and Cabernet Sauvignons are among the red wines that are full-bodied. Pairing those full-bodied wines with dishes that are rather light as well as delicate, fish as an example, would typically overwhelm the meals and not result in a great. A light wine would not match well with beef, because it wouldn’t likewise stand up well to these heavy foods.
3. Flavor. Wine is simply another kind of food, and it has the basic flavors associated with other food (apart from salt). The most important difference is the fact that wine has alcohol that offers aroma and body, and that offers the wine a richer taste. Types of foods that are salty, bitter or sour will make the more bitter red wines like a Cabernet seem sweeter and less tannic. So first take into account the food that you are eating. Might it be sweet including berries added? Think about a sweeter fruity wine would be best. Or if you are consuming a dish that has a more acidic base, then perhaps a more citrusy drier wine may be a better choice.
Matching the flavors of food along with wine will be most likely the most challenging aspect of wine and food pairings, yet it’s most likely also the least essential. Whenever you can get the acidity along with the right and simply explore the flavor pairings you will likely do just fine.
Rich Carroll
