WINE PAIRING

Even though wine and food get along most of the times; there are some exceptions that fortunately doesn’t happen very often. In this way we can be sure that there are very few combinations of wine and food that are totally uneatable, in the same way, there are different combinations for a dish or for a wine.

The first step and the most elemental is the color, in this way is really easy to combine white meat with white wine and red meat with red wine, but not everything is as easy as that, a Beaujolais – Villages results too light for a Pepper fillet and on the other side an Australian chardonnay with Oak can dominate a griddled Sea Bass.

We need to pay attention to the texture, the weight and scents. If we have a dish rich in flavor, we need a full body wine, on the other hand for a light and delicate dish we need a light wine.

To have a better idea of texture we need to try light white wine with a consistent texture fillet, or on the contrary, to drink a rich Red wine with the delicate texture of Sole.

In some occasions the sauce is specially sweet and sour or very reduced or concentrated, we need to pay attention to the result of the combinations with the main ingredient and try to look for the wine with the right balance. In some occasions the side dish can have a sweet taste contrasting with the main dish, so sometimes we should ignore the side dish taste to achieve a better balance.

Acidity in wine help us combine dishes especially if they are sweet; a sweet taste needs acidity so it will not cloy the guest; salty dishes need certain acidity, in the same way, acid dishes need a light acidity to combine. Acidity helps in greasy dishes and in fresh salads; we need to remember that acidity imprints freshness to wine. We are not necessarily saying that the wine should be only acid but it needs to have balance in their components, because a wine only and totally acid is very unpleasant with or without food.

On the other hand sweet wines are almost exclusively for sweet food, for example the sweet wines for desserts, nevertheless there is a special pairing that combines wine of Sauternes with Foie Gras, or the balance reached by Oporto and Roquefort cheese or Stilson.  The Pairings that will never fail are those combining dishes and wines from the same region; it is for this reason that in the region of Sauternes locals usually eat with sweet wines.

In summary we can say that for a dish of strong flavor and texture, we need a full bodied, barrel aged wine, and for the dishes with light flavor and delicate textures we may serve light and soft textured wines. In the case that we wouldn’t have the right wine to pair our food, nothing serious happen, only that the wine flavor can dominate the dish flavor or vice versa, but definitely we won’t be sick or ridicule, but what we have to consider is that the best pairing is with those wines that we like the best, independently from the food that we have in the occasion.

Cheeses

Contrary to what most people think, white wines makes a best pairing with cheese, greasy cheese combine perfectly with fresh white wine, while strong cheeses should be paired with sweet wine.

Brie Cheese and Camembert with young red wines.
Strong Blue Cheese with sweet wine or red Chateaneuf-du-Pape.
Stilton Cheese with Oporto. Roquefort Cheese with sauternes.
Gruyere with white and fruity young wine or light Red wine.
Dutch cheese with Cabernet Sauvignon.
Manchego Cheese with Spanish crianza wines.

Fish

It is somehow true that fish doesn't go with Red Wine, fish of white meat and especially seafood can produce a metallic flavor when combined with red wine because of the tannic contain of this type of wine, on the other side this dishes are most of the times accompanied with lemon juice that goes a lot better with white wines.

Pasta

In reference to pasta we need to consider that the sauce is really what gives the flavor to the dish, is in the sauce in what we need to pay attention, a sauce of meat and tomato go well with full bodied wines and a creamy sauce goes better with a good Chardonnay aged in barrel.

Meat

In reference to meat is very simple and logical, the stronger the flavor of meat and sauce is, the stronger the wine we need for this dish and vice versa.

The problem here could only be the sauce, so we need to pay attention to the taste of the meat with the sauce together. Actually is not very hard the Pairing of wine and red meat, but what is very clear is that is very hard to combine red meat with white wine because of the lack of structure of this last one.


Food & Wine Pairing Reference

-Dry white wine, young, fruit-scented with a fresh acidity: Salads, Smoked Salmon, Seafood (especially very dry wines like Muscadet type), cheeses and fresh fruits.

-Full bodied white wines, balanced, long and barrel aged: Pâté, Ham, Lobster, Fish with white sauce, Cold cuts, Chicken Salad and Light Cheeses.

-Sparkling white wine dry and fruit scented: Caviar, smoked Salmon, Seafood, Fish, Chicken, Turkey, Foie Gras, Fruit Tarts, Fruit Mousse, and any kind of dish.

-Semisweet light alcoholic white wines: Quiche, Fish with light sauce, Chicken, Dry Fruits, Fresh Salads, Almond cake.

-Sweet white wines with strong alcohol content: Cold or Hot Foie Gras, Fine and Delicate Fish, Blue Cheese, Dry Fruits, Apple Tart and Fruitcakes.

Young Red wine, fruit scented, light to middle bodied: Cold Cuts, Ham, Duck, Turkey, Light Cheeses, Wine scented Fruits.

-Aged Red wines fruit scented and full bodied: Pâté, Red meat, duck, Fish in wine sauce, Strong Cheeses, Red fruits Tart and Chocolate desserts.

-Red wines with structure, long aged in barrel: Griddled Red Meat or Meat with Sauce, Strong and Creamy Cheese, Hunt Meat and Red fruit desserts.

In general, the best wine we can Pair is the one that we like the most, no matter what color, weight, quality, etc., in many occasions if we don’t like the wine that we are drinking, the dish can be diminished and not appreciated. Here are some Pairings made by a Master Sommelier from Chile named Patricio Tapia:

-Red meat with fat, served with a thick sauce goes good with a heavy and robust Red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.

-Oil Cooked Salmon with Sauce goes with a Pinot Noir or Light Meriot.

-Thai Food, even the fact of being very spicy is not heavy, we recommend a light wine but strongly scented like the Gewürztraminer, the same goes for a Chicken with Curry, Ginger and Cumin.

-For a spicy red meat, you can try a young Merlot or a Malbec.

-A classic combination: Roquefort Cheese with Sauterns or Late Harvest.

-A Red Raspberry tart, Peach with syrup, Banana with honey or Custard combine perfectly with a Late Harvest or Sauternes.

-Acid Cheeses like Goat Cheese go good with an even more acid wine like White Sauvignon from a recent vintage.

-For Salty Cheeses like Roquefort or English Stilton is recommended sweet wines like Oporto, but with Camembert cheeses we can try a Cabernet Sauvignon or a strong Merlot.

-Smoked Cheeses go good with an aged Gewürztraminer.

-Fresh Cheeses, like goat cheese or cow milk cheese with fine herbs, pot marjoram or garlic go with White Sauvignon in an ideal way.

-Provencal Cheese that are macerated with fine herbs and olive oil go good with crispy bread and Cabernet Sauvignon.

-Seafood should be always accompanied with white wine preferably dry.

-Soft crustaceans go well with young white wines made from the variety of Sauvignon Blanc.

-Seafood of intense flavor, like Sea Urchin requires the intensity of a strong wine and the best in this case is a fine, very dry Sherry or a white Sauvignon Reserve.

-For Seafood of more delicate and subtle flavors like oysters or Blue Crab we recommend Chardonnay.

-For Fish with fat and strong flavor like Salmon, Tuna and Grouper we recommend Chardonnay Reserve, also Red wines like Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc Reserve.

-Grilled Chicken and Turkey go good with Merlot, if this meat goes accompanied with sauce, dressings or spices that give an intense flavor, we must try Merlot Reserve or Cabernet Sauvignon.

-Pork can be Paired with a soft Red wine, like Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, Malbec or also Chardonnay if is simply griddled. If is spicy we can try a full bodied red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon.