Pairing Wines & Food: No Mystery, Just Magic

Something magical happens when  a simple food and wine meet each other, and the result is a lasting memory of how great it was. As our wine and food worlds become more complicated, finding that magical pairing poses many challenges. Today, we eat dishes that incorporate Asian, Latin, American and Mediterranean flavors and styles. The wines are now blended more with different grape varietals from all over the world. So what makes a classic pairing of wine and food? Nowadays, it’s not a matter of right or wrong, but what works for each of us with our preferences and tolerances.

A good philosophy to stick by is to approach a pairing thinking, “Am I selecting the food to pair with a wine or am I selecting the wine to pair with the food?” If it’s a great dish, then select a wine with no strong personality. If the wine is great, then select a not-so-powerful dish.

Here are four good principles for pairings:

1. Match the palate weights of the wine and food together. Light to light. Medium to medium. Heavy to heavy.
2. Identify the dominant factor of the food and match the wine to it. Example: Sauce, seasoning, cooking method.
3. Food elements can diminish or accentuate the acidity of sweetness of a wine. High acidic foods soften a high acidic wine. Tart foods make a dry wine flabby. Sweet foods make a dry wine sour. Salty foods increase the bitterness of tannic wines but oiliness or creaminess soften them.
4. Echo flavors between food and wine pairings. Sweets with sweet wines. Spicy dishes like fruity and lightly sweet wines. Hearty dishes love oaky wines. Umami dishes flavor soft, older wines.