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The matching of wine with a dish has
only become a subject of interest in this century. Food and wine
styles in any given region have usually evolved to complement each
other, so that the strong but subtle flavors of Italian food are
seldom as good as when the right Italian wine is served with them.
Yet with a little basic knowledge regional wines can be paired
successfully with a variety of cuisines.
There are also basic rules: red wine
with red meat, white wine with fish and white meat. These still
largely apply, but are not binding. Wine styles have changed in
recent years, mostly for the better, and the way we view food has
also changed. The people who laid down those rules had never thought
of drinking wine with Chinese food, for example.
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| 1. |
Match not only the
flavor of the wine to the flavor of the food, but to the
intensity of flavor and weight or body of the wine as
well. A heavy, alcoholic wine will not suit a delicate
dish.
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| 2. |
Try to match the
acidity of a dish to the acidity of the wine. Acid
flavors like lemon or tomato need acidity in the
wine.
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| 3. |
Richness in a dish
can either be cut through, with an acidic wine, or
matched with a rich one. Either way, the wine should be
full in flavor so as not to taste lean and
mean.
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| 4. |
Consider sweetness when pairing wines with food.
Sweet food makes dry wine taste unpleasantly lean and
acidic.
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There is a great
deal of sense in the old rule of white wine before red,
young wine before old and light wine before heavy. The
palate adjusts easily to wines served in this order,
however it is only a guideline. A vigorous red served
after a rich late-harvest white, for instance, will not
show to best advantage.
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Copyright (c) 1998, Websters International
Publishers and its suppliers |
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| 6. |
If a dish has a
sauce, then the flavors of the sauce should be taken
into account.
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| 7. |
Red wine is
traditionally drunk with cheese, but white is generally
better. Blue cheeses, in particular, are unhappy matches
for red wines (except port)
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| 8. |
Pastry
dulls the palate, softening the flavors of the other
ingredients with it. Go for a more subtle wine than you
might otherwise have chosen.
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| 9. |
Certain
foods have a great affinity for particular grapes: lamb
with Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. It often seems to
be the case, too, that Cabernet Sauvignon is best with
plainly roast meat and Pinot Noir is best with sauced
meat.
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| 10. |
Contrary to the old
adage that white wine should be served with fish, the
red grapes Pinot Noir and Gamay can go with certain
types of fish, such as salmon and red mullet. Syrah can,
occasionally, if there is a lot of garlic involved.
Other red grapes do nothing for fish.
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The final arbiter is
your own palate. If you like Chardonnay with venison,
then go ahead and enjoy it.
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