Wine and Food: The Best Pairings
Pairing wine with food has rules that have been around for what seems like forever. Having said that, many of those rules have gone by the wayside. If people like only whites, they will drink them if they are eating a piece of fish or a New York strip. However, those of us that love all wine do our best to pair up the perfect wine with each dish. When you make the proper marriages, dinner will have never tasted better.
Before actually getting into our suggested wine pairings, the ideal situation will have the wines get heavier as the meal progresses. The reason for this being that it becomes difficult to taste the characteristics of lighter wine after having tasted a full-bodied wine. Of course, this means that some planning will be needed to ensure that the menu also progresses to complement the wine selections for the evening. Here are some of our favorite wine pairings.
Oysters and Champagne - this is truly a match made in heaven. Champagne is made from the Chardonnay grape and is often blended with Pinot Noir. The combination and effervescence works wonders with oysters. However, if you are someone who prefers a dollop of cocktail sauce on your oysters, a Pouilly Fuisse may be the better choice.
Spicy Seafood or Asian Dishes with Riesling - these contrasting flavors work wonders on the palate. The spice of the dish demands more wine to calm the heat on the tongue, yet the sweetness of the wine requires another forkful of the dish. It is a cycle that does not end until both the food and wine are completely gone.
Tuna and Pinot Noir - most people will reach for a white wine whenever they are pairing food and wine, but give this a try and you will never go back to white when having fresh Tuna. Salmon is also an ideal pairing for this red wine, as the fish has enough flavor on its own to hold up against the velvety feel of the Pinot Noir.
Pasta and Chianti - If there is a food and wine pairing that screams of Italy, this is it! The mild tannins of the Chianti pair perfectly with an appetizer course of pasta with red sauce. As the dish sounds the alert for bigger things to come, so does the ripe fruit flavors of the wine. By now, the palate should be screaming for more, and we are going to give it everything it is asking for!
BBQ or Grilled Meats with Zinfandel - Zinfandel is not called the "chef's wine" for no reason. When grilling fresh game, serving heavily spiced foods, or something fresh off the grill that is dripping in BBQ sauce, there is simply no better wine to stand up to the flavors than Zinfandel. Most Zinfandels are known for being peppery, jammy, and full-bodied. This wine can truly hold its own against the big flavors of this type of food.
Red Wines: The Bold, Complex, and Beautiful
Ask any self-proclaimed wine expert the holy grail of wines, and the response will more than likely be a big, bold red wine. While white wines are extremely popular, red wines have characteristics that make the dining experience truly memorable. The bigger reds are very complex, often taking decades for the flavors of the wine to unveil themselves. Simply put, there is nothing better than finding the perfect bottle of red for your meal.
Because red wines are so complex, it always helps to learn about wine before traveling down this road. A person that has just started tasting wines and has worked their way through the whites may be best served to start out with a lighter red, such as Beaujolais. This varietal is very light in tannins (the essence of wine that provokes the "pucker effect"), lighter bodied, and is usually fruity.
When moving up in boldness and complexity, many people will choose to try a nice Chianti. This varietal is made from the Sangiovese grape and is considered a medium-bodied wine. There are heavier Chianti's on the market, but many restaurants will choose a lighter one for their house table wine. Tasting this will usually have the experience of berries and plums find their way across the palate.
The next logical step would be Merlot. Now while Merlot sometimes gets a bad rap because of its common popularity, some of the most beautiful wines in the world fall into this category. There is a reason that most red wine lovers will order a Merlot blindly before any other. The varietal is often characterized as having a "smooth" taste. It is also a great way to experience such essences as herbs, oak, and darker fruits.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the first step into the truly big reds. Because of the boldness of this varietal, it will often have Merlot or Cabernet Franc added to smooth out the wine. While there are Cabernets ready to drink when they hit the shelf, it is often best to let them age in order to smooth out the tannins. Flavors get more complex with this varietal, as bell pepper, olives, ginger, peppercorn, black currant, and blackberry are all common essences of this wine.
Last, but certainly not least, is Zinfandel. Now we are not talking about the pink kool-aid that people order when they want something light and sweet, that is White Zinfandel. We are talking about the real Zinfandel, a true chef's wine, that is bold and absolutely incredible. As a person's palate becomes more refined, they will be able to pick out flavors of licorice, black pepper, cinnamon, black cherry, and boysenberry. No wine lovers BBQ should be absent of a bottle of Zinfandel.
As you learn about wine and the nuances of reds, you will begin to narrow down your favorites. While there is no shame in only drinking white wine, when a person accepts and loves the flavors or red wine, they are all but guaranteed of making every meal they have better. They can match each course to a wine that will complement the dish and experience the true harmony of food and wine as it was meant to be enjoyed.
White Wines: A Great Place To Learn About Wine
Anyone opening up the door to wine has probably heard more than his or her fare share of wine snobs talk about how difficult it can be to learn about wine. We are here to say it is all nonsense. Yes, there are people that have devoted their lives to the art of tasting wine, but unless a person has ambitions of becoming a master sommelier, they can learn about wine as they go and truly enjoy the experience.
When first starting out, most people tend to lean towards white wine. The reason for this is that many of the popular white wines on the market are not as complex as the big reds. They also feature a bit more variety for the everyday person. We are by no means suggesting that red wines do not offer a variety, it is just that white wines can be sweet, dry, buttery, oaky, or crisp. For someone not familiar with the nuances of red, this presents more variety.
For the most part, beginning wine drinkers are under the impression that all reds are dry; therefore, white wines are the perfect way to learn about wine for the first time. One of the more popular wines on the market today for white wine is Pinot Grigio. Made from the Pinot Gris varietal (the name Pinot Grigio originated in Italy), it is often characterized as light and crisp. It is the perfect companion for seafood and lighter pasta dishes.
A wine that has come into the spotlight recently is the Sauvignon Blanc. While this varietal is made all over the world, the Marlborough region in New Zealand has come on to produce some of the most incredible wines of this varietal. This areas wine is known specifically for the tropical fruit that comes forward in both the bouquet and palate. It is the perfect companion for creamy dishes as the acid cuts right through the heaviness of the cream and allows the drinker to truly savor every bite.
When a person prefers a sweeter wine, they are often pointed to a Riesling or Gewurztraminer. While there are dryer Rieslings, the varietal is better known for the sweeter wines in this category. These white wines will have more body and are paired perfectly with spicier foods, especially seafood. Treat yourself to a bottle of Gewurztraminer and a bushel of crabs coated in Old Bay, and you will likely not leave the table until both are consumed.
Of course, the most popular of all white wines is Chardonnay. The more a person takes the time to learn about wine, the more they will realize that this wine takes on many forms. There are lighter Chardonnays that almost taste as though they are Pinot Grigio, and then there are oaky Chards that offer the perfect transition into lighter reds. It is not uncommon for white wine lovers to choose a bold Chardonnay with a meat dish solely because they prefer the flavor of whites.
As anyone can see, to learn about wine offers an adventure like no other. The beauty of this adventure is that a person is never wrong. It all comes down to drinking what a person likes and then taking it to the next level. When someone finds that they enjoy bigger whites, it may be time to venture into the land of red wine. If not, there are plenty of white wines to spend your life tasting in order to find your favorite one.