On matching food and wine...

If you were able to read some of the first blog posts, you may remember a promise I made to talk about how to pair food and wine. So now that you're able to properly evaluate wine, it's time to put your skills to proper use. In fact, if you read nothing else but this opening paragraph, read this--drink your wine with food! If you're still with me, you're about to go from zero to hero at the dinner table as you impress your date by seamlessly ordering the perfect wine to match your food--no sommelier needed.


Wine is a beverage that is ideally meant to be drank with food. In Europe and South America, wine is drunk at lunch and dinner almost daily. Even young kids grow up drinking wine at the dinner table. The United States mostly does it backwards. We drink wine on its own for happy hour. As a result, we like "fruity" and "sweet" wines with lots of sugar. After all, we grew up drinking coca-cola. Manufacturers know this, and pump sugar into their smiley-faced labeled pink bottles for unsuspecting buyers walking down the grocery aisle. When a wine is strong or has some tannin, we don't like it, and instead spring for the fruity white zinfandel. Consequently we miss out on good, strong wines that were actually crafted to be drank with food, not at happy hour! Do you actually think you're going to get a decent wine at a 2-for-1 special? If you just want to get drunk, then save your time and money and have a couple of shots of this instead:

Does this mean the wine cops will come after you for drinking wine at a party or happy hour without some food? Absolutely not. You just need to be smart about what you drink. For example, if you're just having hors d'oeuvres, do not drink the big red cabernet sitting on the table. Its strong tannins will punch you in the face, destroy your palate, and make the wine taste horrendous. You'll think your friend is cheap and hates you for bringing over such a poor wine. Had you been smart, opened the wine an hour prior to let the alcohol evaporate, and drank it with the grilled meats later in the evening, you'd thank your friend for the excellent wine he brought to the party.


So let's get started, shall we? I'll begin with the bare bones basics and do a quick drill with some visual aids:

REAL RED Zinfandel

FAKE Zinfandel

     Repeat After Me

No comment necessary...

YES

The girl you marry

The girl you don't call back

Deeeelicious!

Over the counter boxed urine

Congratulations, you've passed the first level! You're well on your way to becoming a stud. Now that you have the basics down, we'll get to the nitty gritty...


On Complexity:
Professionals suggest that there can only be one star at the table--either the food or the wine. In other words, if you have an extremely elaborate and complex dish, you should have a simpler wine to allow the food to shine. If you have simple food, order a complex wine. I agree with this logic. However, if I was enjoying great food, I'd like some great wine to go along with it, as well. I like taking things to the extreme. Experiment on your own and have fun with this one.


On Acid Levels:
Acid is incredibly important in matching food and wine as it helps to cleanse your palate when you eat foods that are high in fat, cream, sugar, butter, and salt. For example, high acid wines go well with rich, buttery lobster because they cleanse your palate between bites. Without the wine, you'd grow tired of the lobster quickly and the buttery taste would linger in your mouth.


Acid in wine also provides balance to dishes themselves high in acid, such as tomatoes or ceviche. Without it, the tomatoes or ceviche would feel too acidic.


High Tannin Wines:
Tannin, if you remember, is that thing in red wine that dries your gums and tongue. Highly tannic wines should ideally be matched with dishes high in fat and protein--such as steaks--because the tannin binds to the protein and fats. Upon binding, the tannin actually solidifies and you end up swallowing it. As a result, with the bitter tannins out of the way, the wine becomes much smoother in the mouth. In addition, due to its bitterness, tannic wines go well with charred or grilled foods.


Tannin is one of the major things to consider when pairing food and wine. A highly tannic wine will have a similar effect to a high alcohol wine--it will destroy your palate and the subtle flavors of the light food. So, don't drink a cabernet with a light fish dish.


If anywhere else, this is where the maxim of "drink white wine with white foods and red wines with red foods" makes the most sense.


On Sweetness Levels:
When thinking of sweet foods (particularly desserts), the wine you drink must be at least as sweet--if not sweeter--than the food you're eating. So for example, if you're having chocolate cake, drink a port. Remember, as I mentioned in the earlier post about wine, when I say sweet I mean dessert wine. Not "fruity."


Sugar can also act as a foil to spicy and salty foods. So, spicy curry with an off-dry Gewurztraminer is a great match.


On Saltiness Levels:
If a food is overly salty and you would like to reduce the perception of the salt, choose a wine high in acid or high sugar (or both).


On Alcohol Levels:

You don't let a sumo wrestler into the ring with a high school wrestler, do you? It'd be unfair for the skinny kid. Therefore, have light wines with light food and heavy wines with heavy food. The weight of the high alcohol will squash the subtle flavors in a light dish. In fact, some serious foodies will not drink hard liquor when having an expensive meal because the alcohol deadens the palate and flavors are lost.


Another factor to consider is that spicy foods will accentuate the alcohol in wine. Therefore, when eating spicy foods, drink wines low in alcohol. Opt instead for wines with some sugar, such as a Riesling or Gewurztraminer.

On Intensity Levels:

Despite the above statement about alcohol, there is one exception. If you have an intensely aromatic or flavored wine, the intensity can act as a substitute for the alcohol. So, for example, you can have an intense white riesling with roasted duck.

On Fruits, Smells, and Tastes:
All other factors considered first, when choosing between two wines that will equally pair well with a dish, I will opt for the wine whose own flavors will be able to match the flavors of the food. For example, if your dessert is a pecan pie, you know you need a sweet wine (due to the rules of sweetness listed above). But, there are countless dessert wines out there. Which should you choose? I would go for a Sherry or a Madeira, as these are sweet wines with nutty flavors that will blend well with the pecans in the pie. Likewise, as in the chocolate cake example, a port would go well because it can sometimes have undertones of chocolate. A grassy sauvignon blanc would go well with a seafood dish featuring cilantro or herbs. The pairings are endless!

On Pinot Noir:

Pinot Noir is a particularly flexible wine that I really find enjoyable and sometimes make it my go to wine when making recommendations. The main reason is that for me, Pinot Noir straddles the line between the characteristics shared by both whites and reds. It is one of the only reds I would consider pairing with light dishes--such as fish--yet you can still drink it with red meats. This is due to its low tannin and alcohol levels. It can be so smooth that it will not overpower a light dish.


I would often recommend this when I had people at a table ordering different things. One person wanted fish, and the other wanted a steak. However, one of them would insist on drinking red. I would turn to Pinot Noir--the fish wouldn't be overpowered and the steak eater would still get his red.

On "Buttery" Chardonnays:

Chardonnay is an unaromatic grape variety that is often aged in oak barrels in order to give it some body, color, flavor, and aroma. The aromas and flavors imparted are that of a buttery, dairy smell. The color becomes more golden yellow. (By the way, this is the same thing done to whiskeys and other liquors aged in barrels--to give them color and taste).


The more aging done to the Chardonnay, the more of this buttery aroma it will have. In addition, it will also have more alcohol, and feel heavier to drink.


Not all Chardonnays have the same level of barrel aging. Typically anything from France will be light, whereas "New World" wines will have more barrel aging. I urge you to go out and taste some buttery Chardonnays and some light wines to see which you prefer. As with all things wine related, each style will have its own application when it comes to pairing. A buttery Chardonnay may go great with a pasta or lobster dish, whereas a lighter Chardonnay may go great with a fresh salad.


On Regional Pairings:
If all else fails and you're left scratching your head for a minute when trying to pair wines, there is an almost foolproof maxim that you can turn to and still get by safely with: If it grows together, it goes together.  In other words, pair wine and food from the same region together. Spanish wines will always match well with Spanish food; French food and wine are a match made in heaven; Italian food and wine; South America...etc! You can almost never lose with this philosophy.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, learned something new, and go drink some wine! But remember.....

I don't always drink wine, but when I do, I drink it with food. Stay thirsty, my friends.