Pairing Wine with Food

Every quarter Trudi and I try to come up with a great recipe and the perfect wine to match it for the newsletter. When we released our family cookbook, we made sure that all the recipes had pairings. For the charity dinners we host, we make sure all the wines pair with the food and usually dig through the wine library to find older wines that will couple as well.

We say that wine is an offspring of art and science; an ever-varying percentage of both but never exclusively one of the two. The same can be said about wine pairing. What makes sense for one may not for the other, which can be seen when Greg and I start food pairings, as a lengthy discussion always occurs. There’s usually no absolute right answer and it’s both an art and a science trying to find the right match.

The truth is, pairing wine with food is easy. Getting the perfect pairing however, is extremely difficult (and something I’ve only experienced a handful of times in my life). That being said, this is a fun activity and should never be taken too seriously, so enjoy the process!

So here is a little guide on pairing wine with food.

There are 3 different pairing styles: Congruent, Complimentary, and Contrasting

Congruent is where the wine and food share many aspects and many flavors are amplified.

Complimentary is where the wine and food share a few aspects and some flavors are amplified.

Contrasting is where the wine and food share no aspects but find balance in opposites.

Keep these general “rules” in mind:

·      Try to balance salt, fat, acid, heat (spicy), sweet, and bitter.

o   Bitter wines get balanced by fat

·      Red wines pair best with red meats

o    Beef, lamb, pork

·      White wines pair best with light meats 

o   Chicken, veal, fish, shellfish

·      Match the wine with the sauce more than the meat

o   Coq au vin (chicken in red wine) is usually served with a Burgundian red

·      Match the wine with the flavor intensity of the food

o    The boldness of BBQ meats usually pairs well with a full-bodied Zinfandel

·      The wine should be more acidic or sweeter than the food

·      Usually, Red wines make congruent pairings

o   Earthy reds with earthy foods for example braised beef and mushrooms with Nebbiolo

·      Usually, sparkling, white, and rosé wines create complimentary or contrasting pairings

o   Spicy and rich Thai food with Pinot Grigio is contrasting but a balanced pair

*Here’s another helpful tip – if you’re eating classic French or Italian foods, the region where the food comes from usually goes with the wines of that region. Beef bourguignon, also called beef Burgundy, is obviously a pair with any red Burgundy; Pinot Noir or Gamay. Ossobuco alla milanese is a bone-in veal shank and comes from the Lombardy region of Italy, where Nebbiolo is a great match (although better known next-door in Piemonte for Barolo). 

Here are some suggestions for your current wine club: 

Pinot Blanc: Asian cuisine, pan seared scallops, flakey white fish with basil-caper butter, simple pasta dishes like chicken with pesto.

Zinfandel: Anything BBQ, eggplant parmesan, pulled pork, meat lovers pizza, carne asada tacos.

Aglianico: Venison stew, braised short ribs, grilled portobello mushrooms topped with an aged cheese.

Cheers!

Alexandra

FYI an article from Wine Folly on pairing wine with food helped guide me in getting all these concepts laid out. It’s a great online resource!