A Well Developed Wine Region

The importance of food and wine pairing is becoming well
understood and we are seeing much more effort and awareness in
our local wine events. As we become more wine savvy, spending
more time and money seeking out our favorite wines, food and
wine pairing becomes absolutely essential. We all want to get
the very best and the very most from our favorite wines. Pairing
the right foods with the complimentary wines will do just that
and take your wine enjoyment to new heights!

Food and wine pairing is a highly subjective and inexact
process. The old rules — primarily red wine with red meat and
white wine with fish and poultry — don't take into consideration
the complexity of today's multi-ethnic and subtly flavored foods
and the corresponding wide range of wines from around the world
that are now conveniently available to almost everyone. So that
means there's considerable room for experimentation and
expression of your own personality in pairing food and wine. Yippee!

The ultimate goal when pairing food and wine is synergy and
balance. The wine shouldn't overpower the food, nor should the
food overpower the wine. spacer
Wine should enhance the flavor of food and vise versa! A good
match will bring out the nuances and enhance the flavors and
unique characteristics of both the food and the wine. When I am
experimenting with a new recipe, I will try it with a few wines
I think might pair well and then make a note of the one that
really works.

Here are a few guidelines to help get you started in the right
direction.

When you're serving more than one wine at a meal, it's
customary to serve lighter wines before full-bodied ones.
Dry wines should be served before sweet wines unless a
sweet flavored dish is served early in the meal. In that
case match the sweet dish with a similarly sweet wine.
Lower alcohol wines should be served before higher alcohol
wines.

Balance flavor intensity. Pair light-bodied wines with
lighter food and fuller-bodied wines with heartier, more
flavorful, richer and fattier dishes.


Consider how the food is prepared. Delicately flavored
foods — poached or steamed — pair best with delicate
wines. It's easier to pair wines with more flavorfully
prepared food — braised, grilled, roasted or sautéed. Pair
the wine with the sauce, seasoning or dominant flavor of
the dish.


Match flavors. An earthy Pinot Noir goes well with
mushroom soup and the grapefruit/citrus taste of Sauvignon
Blancs goes with fish for the same reasons that lemon does.

Balance sweetness. But, beware of pairing a wine with food
that is sweeter than the wine, although I do like
chocolate with Cabernet Sauvignon. I also like chocolate
with good dark beer. Come to think of it, I like chocolate
with just about anything and a good dark beer with just
about anything! But that is a topic that deserves a column
of its' own


Consider pairing opposites. Very hot or spicy foods — some
Thai dishes, or hot curries for example — often work best
with sweet desert wines. Opposing flavors can play off
each other, creating new flavor sensations and cleansing
the palate.

Use your instincts and experiment! To put together a meal that
tastes great with your favorite wines, is a very satisfying
accomplishment.