Wine and Food: Taking the Guesswork Out of Ordering
By The Backyard Wine Enthusiast The Backyard Wine Enthusiast on Mar 5, 2010 in Restaurant Wine & Drinks
When it comes to wine and food there are some basic rules that do apply, but the number one rule for pairing wine with food is that your personal preference is always the right choice. However, there are wine choices that can enhance your meal when paired properly with the foods you have selected for dining. A great wine pairing can make your dinning experience unforgettable and a wrong choice of wine can bring together a poor mixing of flavors that can spoil the flavors of your meal.
To choose the right wine for dining, consider these four questions.
There are four question that will help you make the best wine decision for your meal. (1) What is the main dish? Is it fish, chicken or beef? (2) Will it be roasted, grilled or pan-fried? (3) Does the dish come with a sauce and if so, what kind of sauce? (4) Will there be any side dishes and how will their flavors impact your wine choice? There are many different types of wine choices available today, so the basic wine rules may not always apply, but generally speaking these rules remain for the most part, still accurate for helping you make the right wine choice: white wines with poultry and fish, and red wines with beef.
When choosing your wines “think wine power.”
Big, rich, heavy, meaty, full-of-herbs types of dishes work best with red wines. When choosing wines, you want to think about “wine power.” To improve the flavor of a beef entre, it should be served with a powerful wine. The same rule would apply for any entre that is served in a thick, heavy sauce. Red wines contains tannins, and when tannins mixes with the meal’s proteins it will blend together enhancing the flavor of the foods when combined. White wines do not contain tannins and therefore generally do not work well with red meats.
White wines are better suited for light foods, such as grilled halibut (fish-type dishes) or chicken breast (poultry-type dishes) grilled or pan-fried in a light sauce. Color and aromatic flavors influence taste and lighter wines will complement the meal and not overpower the flavors of the food. Even in light types of foods, the type of sauce that is paired with the dish can influence the taste of the wine with the food. If the poultry was cooked in a heavy, thick sauce, or a spicy flavored sauce like paprika or full-of-herbs type of sauce, then it would be better served with a more powerful fuller-bodied red wine or perhaps a Rose or a spicy flavored wine.
Choose more than one wine with a multiple course meal.
When you are eating multiple courses, you should choose more than one wine, as multiple courses of foods means multiple flavors and it would be difficult for one wine to taste great with all the different food choices. If your wine budget permits, consider ordering by the glass for appetizers and then order a bottle of wine with the main dish and then finish off by the glass again with a sweet wine for desert pairing.
You should start off with a lighter wine before drinking the more full-bodied types of wines. Wines that is high in acid works well with most foods, so think about those types of wines when ordering. Wines that are high in acid, you may not choose to drink alone, but can be quite wonderful when appropriately paired with the right food choice. Wines that have low acid can often be overwhelmed even with foods that are light in taste. The following examples of going from light to more full-bodied wines are: White Zinfandel, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewrztraminer and Chardonnay. And among reds, from lighter to fuller: Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Choosing a wine that you know you like, works every time.
The four questions guideline will help you to pair the right wine with your meal selection. Until you feel comfortable in making those wine choices for yourself, ask your server to suggest a wine for you. Be sure and tell them the type of wine you prefer, so they can keep that in mind before coming up with their recommendations. They should provide you with at least three to four great wine pairing choices in different price ranges. If you get a bottle or a glass of wine that you don’t like, then feel comfortable in sending it back and requesting a new bottle or a new wine pour. Of all the wines rules to follow when it comes to wine and food pairing, the number one rule to remember, is to always choose the wine that you like.
