wine and food paring
Many people believe that they will ruin the meal if they choose the wrong wine. The good news is that it’s impossible to ruin a good meal if you select a wine that you enjoy regardless what the wine experts say. (The wine experts are not eating your dinner).
The oldest rules of wine and food paring are red with meat, and white with fish or fowl. Rules are meant to be broken!
In the past few years, some have been saying that it’s alright to have Pinot Noir (a light red wine) or Merlot with Salmon. There are some general guidelines you may find helpful when selecting a wine to enhance your meal.
1. Select light-bodied wines to pair with lighter food, and fuller-bodied wines to go with heartier, more flavorful dishes.
2. Consider how the food is prepared. Is it grilled, roasted, or fried, and what type of spice or sauce is used. For example, chicken with a lemon butter sauce will call for a different more delicate wine to play off the sauce more than chicken cacciatore with all the tomato and Italian spices, or a grilled chicken breast.
3. For every food action, there’s a wine reaction. The wine tastes one way when you drink it, but when you take a bite of food, the wine tastes different. This is because wine is like a spice. Elements in the wine interact with the food to provide a different tastes sensation like these basic reactions;
- sweet foods such as Italian tomato sauce, Japanese Teriyaki, and honey mustard glazes make your wine seems drier than it really is. So try off-dry (a little sweet) wine to balance the flavor (i.e. Chenin Blanc, White Zinfandel, Riesling).
- high acid food such as salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, soy sauce, or fish served with a squeez of lemon go well with wines higher acid (i.e. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir). White Zinfandel, although not as high in acid can provide a nice contrast to high acid foods.
- bitter and astringent foods such as mixed green salad of bitter greens, Greek Kalamata olives and charbroiled meats accentuate a wine’s bitterness so complement it with a full-flavored forward fruity wine (i.e. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot)
- big tannic red wines (i.e. Red Zinfandel, Shiraz, Syrah wines) will go well with grilled steak or lamb chops as the fat in the meat will tone down the tannin (bitterness) in the wine.
I hope these basic guidelines can help you choose the right wine with the right food. Enjoy your meal 
Cheers,
Source: Cape North Distribution.
