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Wine
and Food Pairing
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 One
of the most common questions is what wine goes with what food.
Many people mistakenly believe that they will ruin the whole
meal if they make the "wrong" wine choice. The good
news is that it's impossible to ruin a good meal if you select
a wine that you enjoy regardless of what the "wine experts"
say. Remember, the wine experts are not eating your dinner. |
 If
you want to talk "rules" of wine and food pairing,
the oldest one in the book is red with meat, and white with
fish or fowl. But rules are meant to be broken. In recent years
we've gotten bold and have said it's okay to have Red Rooster,
which is a light red wine, or even Ramaja with salmon. And I
personally know some white wine drinkers who will enjoy their
Chardonel whether liver pate or juicy grilled steak is on the
menu.
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Here are some
general guidelines you may find
helpful when selecting a wine to enhance your meal.
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 1.
Select light bodied wines to pair with lighter food, and
fuller-bodied wines to go with heartier, more flavorful
dishes. Using the salmon example above, the Pike Co.
White works beautifully with the fish because you are matching
light to light. Otherwise a full-bodied, heavier wine will
overpower a light, delicate dish, and similarly, a lighter
style wine will not even register on your personal flavor
meter if you sip it with a hearty roast. You may as well
drink water.
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2.
Consider how the food is prepared. Is it grilled, roasted,
or fried, for instance, and what type of sauce or spice
is used: For example, chicken with a lemon butter sauce
will call for a different more delicate wine to play off
the sauce than chicken cacciatore with all of the tomato
and Italian spices, or a grilled chicken breast.
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3.
For every food action, there is a wine reaction. When
you drink wine by itself it tastes one way, 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 taste sensation like
these basic reactions:
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- Sweet
Foods like Italian tomato sauce, Japanese teriyaki,
and honey-mustard glazes make your wine seem drier than
it really is so try an off-dry (slightly sweet) wine to
balance the flavor (Pike Co. Blush Riesling)
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- High
Acid Foods like salads with balsamic vinaigrette
dressing, soy sauce, or fish served with a squeeze of lemon
go well with wines higher in acid (Pike Co. White, Pike
Co. Blush), although not as high in acid, can provide a
nice contrast to high acid foods.
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- Bitter
and Astringent Foods like a mixed green salad of
bitter greens, Greek kalamata olives and charbroiled meats
accentuate a wine' bitterness so complement it with a full
flavored forward fruity wine (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon,
or Merlot). Big tannic red wines (like many red Zinfandels,
and Shiraz or Syrah wines) will go best with your classic
grilled steak or lamb chops, as the fat in the meat will
tone down the tannin (bitterness) in the wine.
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