5 Golden Rules for Food and Wine Pairing
There has been a long-lasting food and wine pairing custom in countries where wine is produced. The harmony of flavors is felt when you cut off a small piece of, say, a steak and put it in your mouth while sipping the first sip of wine that is ideal with this meat. When wine and food are paired, it provides you with genuine pleasure, this harmony should be attained. Wine should either be the first fiddle, complementing the flavor of the dish, or it should sit on the sidelines with it. This is the way the wine elevates the meal to the level of a true gastronomic symphony.
There are some basic guidelines for the art of food and pairing, but once you master them, you can use your imagination to come up with your own incredible pairings! It's essential to understand that while the principles of suitability provide guidance, they do not need you to follow them consistently. Since everyone's taste is unique, it's difficult to set standards for a combination of tastes that will work for everyone equally.
1. The Taste Atlas for Food and Wine Pairing
graph TD; A[Acidity] -->|Enhances Flavors| B[Food Pairing]; T[Tannins] -->|Affects Texture| B; S[Sweetness] -->|Balances Dishes| B; O[Body] -->|Matches Intensity| B;Our mouth receptors can distinguish five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Each of the five flavors has its own effect on the wine: some make it softer and more fruity, while others can expose the drink in a less favorable light, disrupting its balance and bringing sharpness and even bitterness to the fore.
Sweet
Wine with dessert can be a personal treat for those with a sweet tooth. Dessert wines come to the rescue here, which makes sense. They go well with cakes and sweet pies, as well as spicy muffins, berry rolls, gingerbread, and pancakes with sweet sauces. At the same time, the wine should not be sweeter than the delicacy itself, or the flavor will fade. Brut goes greatly with the desserts. It goes especially well with fruit cookies, cream ice cream, and nut meringues. Experts advise pairing French Cabernet and Merlot or German Riesling with bitter chocolate.
Our wine suggestion:
Harmonie 1er Cru Brut by Champagne Naveau
It is a bright gold wine with fine and vibrant bubbles. The Chardonnay brings white flower notes while the Pinot Noir shows wonderful aromas of fresh fruits. Crisp edges with great freshness and fruitiness. Pinot Noir offers richness and a delicate finale.
Salty
Salty food gives body to the wine while reducing bitterness and acidity. Enhances the wine's fruity character and softens the astringency. Cheeses with a salty flavor pair well with elegant high-acid wines. In most cases, aged cheeses have a salty flavor (gruyere, parmesan, cantal, etc.).
Sour
The acid boosts the wine's body, sweetness, and fruitiness while decreasing its acidity. Food acidity is a good wine friend as it balances wine with high acidity and increases fruitiness. Wines with low acidity will appear flat, sluggish, and lack focus when paired with such food.
Food & Wine Pairing Chart
Bitter
Food bitterness increases the bitterness of wine. If the dish and wine have acceptable levels of bitterness on their own, they can reinforce each other and cause an unpleasant sensation, though this is highly individual.
Umami
Umami-flavored foods sway wine perception as well as sweetness. This component was introduced much later than the others. The peculiarity is that, unlike the other components, umami is difficult to detect alone. To get a sense of umami, try uncooked mushroom and compare it to a preheated 30 seconds in the microwave. Although salted or smoked seafood and meat contain umami, hard cheeses like Parmesan contain a lot of salt, making them much easier to pair with wine.
2. Rule of Contrasts
For a simple dish, it is appropriate to serve a simple but bright wine with a rich taste and aroma such as Australian Shiraz or Spanish Garnacha, and for a refined dish — a fine and suitable wine in style and status, for example, Pinot Noir from Burgundy, Nebbiolo from Piedmont.
Infinity Shiraz - Domaine Asmara
Crimson-purple; a potent bouquet of black fruits, spice, chocolate, and licorice is followed by a full-bodied palate and a very long finish. Fine-grained tannins are balanced by the fruits. Excellent cellaring potential.
3. Rule of Aromas
Foods with powerful aromas should be paired with wines that have a similar aroma intensity. Choose wines that are flavored and scented similarly to the food. For instance, white wines with citrus undertones like Albarinho, Sauvignon Blanc, or Vermentino are best paired with foods like fish with lemon, for example. For mushrooms, which over time develop aromas of undergrowth, earth, and truffle, look for Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir.
Muscadet and oysters are a classic pairing, with a light texture and mineral character. Combine wines with unique terroirs or barrel-aged wines to enhance the smoky flavors of smoked foods. Pouilly-Fumé, for example, complements smoked white fish.
Cairats Origin by Celler Cairats
Premium red wine with fresh, fruity and aromatically intense. Easy to drink but complex and well structured.
Langhe doc Nebbiolo La Chiusa - Chionetti
Ruby red wine with garnet reflections. On the notes, it shows intense aromas of ripe fruit and flowers. You will find red plum and violets. The wine is balanced and harmonious.
4. Texture Matters
Light wines go well with light foods like fish or salads; a rounded wine is best with fatty foods; and vice versa, a dry wine with high acidity would be energizing and add lightness.
Wine becomes more tender, tannin-softer, and less acidic when combined with fatty foods. Although fat has no flavor, it forms a thin film around the oral cavity, reducing the drying, viscous tannins and high acids of wine. Scrambled eggs and bacon perfectly mask the extra oak flavor in barrel Chardonnay.
Our wine suggestion:
Chablis by Domaine Clotilde Davenne
A limpid, bright golden color wine. The nose has a minerality reminiscent of oyster shells. There are also flavors of peaches and citrus fruits. It is crisp with intense white peach flavors with a silken mouthfeel, and notes of gunflint lend appealing vivacity.
5.Geographical affinity
Wine made from grapes grown in the region pairs best with regional cuisine. since nature itself and the meticulous experience of generations brought them together when they were born in the same "terroir," In Alsace, for example, they pour Riesling to sauerkraut, in Italy simply red wine to pasta with tomato sauce, and in Georgia, where spices are frequently salted, Saperavi arrives at your table.
We suggest you to try:
Wonderful red wine with garnet shades, and rich aromas on the nose of prune, violet and cinnamon are complemented by the dry, earthy and well-structured palate.
Saperavi by Wine House Gurjaani
It is a dry wine with medium acidity and medium plus level of tannins with a strong body and aromas of black cherries and Blackberries.
How about wine and hot, spicy food?
Wine doesn't go well with spicy flavors, especially if the alcohol content is high (more than 13% for whites and more than 13.5% for reds). This is due to the warming effect that alcohol has on the larynx, which will combine with the sharpness to produce a burning sensation. If you still choose to drink wine with a spicy dish, make sure the alcohol content is below average, such as in semi-dry Mosel Rieslings, Portuguese Vinho Verde, and some semi-dry Loire Valley Chenin Blanc (France).
What is the most food friendly wine?
Paying attention to versatile and gastronomic wines, we can highlight rosé, which has a nice acidity, light fragrance, and can be used to pair both vegetables and fish or even meat. It is also important to mention oranges, which are white wines that are macerated on the skin. Orange wines pair beautifully with fish and vegetable dishes. Beaujolais wines, Valpolicella, medium-bodied Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc are also successful in this regard.
Our wine suggestions:
Brouilly Coast by Château des Ravatys
The wine is ripe and fragrant with red berry aromas and elegant, balanced tannins. The wine is aged for nine months in wood and offers a smooth texture.
Valpolicella DOC Superior Classic by Scriani
This Valpolicella Classico has deep ruby-red color. It is a harmonious wine with fruity intense aromas.
This wine goes well with roasted meats, roast lamb, and matured cheeses.
Sometimes it takes years of joint work of a chef and sommelier to find the perfect food and wine pairings. Everyone's perception is unique, some people prefer a salty taste, while others like it sweet, and some people can't live without sour. Therefore, any advice on choosing food and wine pairings will always be advisory in nature and based on the expertise of Michelin chefs and well-known wine critics. Remember, though, that only your preferences will ever be a priority for you and that this is only their experience. No matter how much we might like to imagine different foods and wines together, actually experimenting with them is much more interesting. This is the only way to uncover uncommon gastronomic pairings and find delight in the fantastic game of tastes.
Frequently asked question about food and wine pairing
How to pair food and wine?
What are the 2 basic rules when pairing food and wine?
Which food should not pair with wine?
- Fatty fish and tannic wine—the tannin in wine and the fat content of fish mutually balance each other, leaving a fishy taste in the mouth;
- Sour berries and fruits and any wine;
- Boiled egg (egg yolk suppresses the wine taste);
- Raw vegetables, it gives a bitter taste due to the large amount of sulfur compounds, they are better served with cream, a variety of sauces.
