If you are like me, wine is your beverage of choice with meals. I think a delicious and perfectly prepared meal is elevated to even greater heights with a perfect wine pairing. But do you sometimes wonder how to pair wines with foods? I sometimes do, so perhaps we can learn this together .
According to Wine Spectator magazine, there are three important rules for wine and food pairings:
The main take-away from this is that no matter what wine you pair with what dish, if you find the wine to be too heavy, you can always sip some water after sipping your wine before taking another bite of your food in order to prevent the wine from overpowering your dish. You can also take a bite of bread after your wine and before your next bite of food for the same result. If your food is heavier than your wine, again, you should drink either a sip of water or take a bite of bread before eating another bite of food or drinking another sip of wine.
If you really want more specifics, take a look at the wine pairing chart below, do a little online research, and this should help in your choices. One of my favorite pairings is a nice Pinot Grigio with a sharp cheddar on an artisan herb cracker…talk about a little slice of heaven! Perfect! Cheers, and Bon Appétit!!!
According to Wine Spectator magazine, there are three important rules for wine and food pairings:
- Drink and Eat What You Like – you should always choose a wine that you would drink by itself when pairing with food.
- Look for Balance – balance between the weight, or richness, of both the food you are eating and the wine you are drinking goes a long way to ensure that you enjoy the food and wine together. You don’t want to overwhelm the food with your wine choice and neither do you want the food to overwhelm the wine you are drinking. For food, you can determine weight by the fat – both what is in the food and what is in the cooking method or the sauce – and from wine, you can determine weight by the color, grape variety and alcohol level along with the winemaking techniques and climate of the region.
- Match the Wine to the Most Prominent Element in the Dish – this will help to fine-tune wine and food pairings. Usually the dominant character or element in the dish is the sauce, the seasonings, or the cooking method rather than the main ingredient.
The main take-away from this is that no matter what wine you pair with what dish, if you find the wine to be too heavy, you can always sip some water after sipping your wine before taking another bite of your food in order to prevent the wine from overpowering your dish. You can also take a bite of bread after your wine and before your next bite of food for the same result. If your food is heavier than your wine, again, you should drink either a sip of water or take a bite of bread before eating another bite of food or drinking another sip of wine.
If you really want more specifics, take a look at the wine pairing chart below, do a little online research, and this should help in your choices. One of my favorite pairings is a nice Pinot Grigio with a sharp cheddar on an artisan herb cracker…talk about a little slice of heaven! Perfect! Cheers, and Bon Appétit!!!
| wine__food_pairing_chart.pdf |
RSS Feed