How To Pick The Right Wine For Your Meal
Food and Wine Pairings
We have all been in a situation of picking out wine at one time or another. We’re sitting in a nice restaurant, overwhelmed at the wine list trying to figure out which wine should go with our meal. But you may not be that familiar with particular wines that are on the list or even worse; you have little knowledge of anything to do with wine!
Food And Wine Pairing Guide Video:
Well it could be even worse because you may have a special someone with you as this is happening (oh you have been there?). Sounds like you need to read on; this article is going to give some tips, to save you from those confusing wine decisions, the next time you are in a position to need to order wine.
If you’re the experimental type, we recommend joining a wine of the month club so you can experimenting with wine pairings from the comfort of your own home.
Many know the old thing of having the red wine with meats such as beef or sauces that are red, or have white wine with fish, white meats and sauces. There is a bit of truth in this statement, but that is not all to know when it comes to choosing the wine to go with foods.
Cote Du Rhone is an example of a red that goes well with seafood, the Mourvedre, Grenache, and Syrah grapes offer a pleasant level of smoky, mineral flavor which brings out the best in several fish dishes as good as the Sauvignon Blanc. Wines that are made with the Gamay grapes can be a good fit with not only seafood but also duck and some turkey dishes.
Then you have the whites that can go with even the heavy tomato sauce dishes. One of these happens to be the Sauvignon Blanc (which is good in the sauce if you don’t happen to want to drink it with it! Remember this for when you fix it at home next time). This particular wine happens to go with so many foods, remember cream and lemon at this point. It goes beautifully with the cream sauces that are a bit heavy. Then anything that is served with lemon on it as in salads, poultry, and seafood goes with this particular wine.
Think about the flavors of the food is one of the rules to follow when choosing wines. Take barbecue for instance (wine along with barbecue? Shocking!). This is one time you want to serve a red wine, and choose a variety that has the acidity and or the body that can stand up to the bold taste of the barbecue sauce. Sometimes Cabernet is served but it is really too soft for this food. What would be a much better pairing would be Italian Barbera it has a high acidity or the Valpolicella it has a full enough body to hold up with barbecue. Then you could also use a red Zinfandel with its black cherry and pepper flavors that go with grilled meats quite well.
Let’s now discuss the white wines shall we? We will still be pairing for grilled foods since they are so popular now and the fact that spring is about to be here. You may consider the dry whites Pinot Grigio or Semillon with grilled dishes such as fruits (best is the melons), vegetables, and salads. Cheeses go well with whites too such as the strong blue varieties and the milder Havarti or Gouda cheeses.
There’s a lot more to know about pairing wines with food, but this article should help you get started exploring on your own -- remember, if you like a particular pairing, then it’s a good one. And with a research project this delicious, you won’t mind testing out different things. An easy way to start testing out new wines -- two words -- wine clubs!
Bon appétit!
Comments