When you experience a great pairing of the right wine with the right food, something magical happens in your taste buds and both the wine and the food taste better together than they did apart. Certain wine parings have a synergy that is memorable. When the pairing is not right, either the wine, the food, or in the worst cases, both, suffer and you have to reach for a glass of water to get the bad taste out of your mouth.
Of course, personal preferences and flavor sensitivities play a big role as well. One person's great pairing is just so-so to another. That is what makes the job of sommelier on the restaurant floor a challenge - in addition to knowing their menu and their wine list (which is a given), they need to be able to discern their guests' preferences in order to make the best wine recommendations. The best sommeliers are great listeners and know just the right questions to ask to get at a great recommendation. When you are at a restaurant, you should never trust a sommelier that suggests a wine without asking you any questions.
But beyond personal preferences, there are some general rules that can help you make good pairings at home.
- Match intensity of flavor. If you have a dish with full and big flavors, a lightly flavored wine will be overpowered by it. It is generally best to match flavor intensity of the wine with the food. That is one reason why Cabernet Sauvignon goes so well with a juicy steak.
- High acid wines (such as Rieslings or Chiantis) tend to pair well with high fat foods. One of my favorite examples of this is champagne and brie. The crisp acidity of the champagne cuts through the fat in the brie and makes you want another bite.
- Pair sweet with salty. A sweet dessert wine can be a great match for a salty foods like blue cheese. That is one of what makes kettle corn and salted caramel so tasty. One of my favorite wine pairings of all time is Sauternes dessert wine with blue cheese.
- A dish with a sweet sauce or a lot of sugar should be paired with a wine that is at least as sweet as the dessert.
- A dish high in umami (a savory taste that is present in MSG and cooked mushrooms, among other things) should be paired with fruity wines. High tannin wines should be avoided because the savory umami flavor will make the wine seem bitter and extremely dry.
- Bitter foods will increase the perceived bitterness of the wine, so you will want to avoid highly tannic red wines.
- Spicy foods go best with white wines or low tannin red wines. The spice in the food can increase the perception of alcohol in a wine, so it is best to pair these foods with low-alcohol wines. A fruity, sweet wine, such as a sweet or off-dry riesling can be a great option with spicy foods.
- High acid foods, such as anything with a tomato sauce, should be paired with high acid wines. This is why all those italian red sauce dishes go so well with Chianti, a high acid red wine.
- Consider the sauces when choosing a pairing. The sauce can be where most of the flavors are and the pairing should complement the entire dish, not just the protein component.
- Don't be afraid to break any or all of these rules in search of what you like! There is no such thing as a perfect pairing. These rules are just guidelines to help guide you in the right direction, but your palate is the ultimate judge of whether a pairing works for you or not.
Now it's your turn! Let me know about a food and wine pairing you've tried that worked (or didn't) in the comments below.
