4 Easy Steps to Wine Pairing
There are some key things you can remember to help make your selection. You have to recognize basic flavors, how to find a balance between them, and how flavors complement or contrast one another. If you can remember these few tips, you’ll be fine!
Step 1: Remember the Basics
Before you start rattling off varietals and paring rules (eye roll please), like reds with steak and whites with fish, the basics we’re talking about is not Merlot vs. Cab or Pinot Noir in contrast to a Rose. That knowledge base is fairly elementary and while safe, like coloring between the lines or steering away from pink and orange, checking those boxes won’t push taste boundaries and deepen your appreciation for a Gewurztraminer.
We’re all familiar with flavors like sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and spicy, but you should also consider the way food and drinks feel in your mouth. “Mouthfeel” can describe many things, from being oily, fatty, or chewy, to feeling heavy, light, or smooth. Wine is a bit more complex though, which is why pairing it with different foods and flavor profiles can be confusing.
With wine, it’s important to consider its acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and of course its alcohol content. It’s also common to refer to food-like flavors recognized in wines, describing them as “fruity, citrusy, or earthy” which helps with wine pairing. Connoisseurs and experts will also scrutinize the body and tannins of a wine, but the basics are enough for easy pairing.
The basic flavors of food and wine include:
- Wine — acidic, bitter, and sweet
— plus food-like flavors — fruity, citrusy, earthy, etc. - Food — sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and spicy
— plus mouthfeel — oily, chewy, heavy, light, etc.
Step 2: Find the Balance
When pairing wine with your meal, you also want to consider the intensity of flavors. This can mean how bold, delicate, light, or rich flavors are. It can be the strong, peppery seasoning of a steak or roast, a rich, creamy Alfredo sauce in a pasta dish, or a delicate chocolate sauce — essentially, it’s the strength of the most prominent flavor.
Choose a wine that has an equal intensity of flavors to your food, so one doesn’t overpower the other. If your dish is light and delicate, pick a wine that is too. There’s a known rule among wine-lovers to pair red wine with red meat, and white wine with fish, which works quite well. That’s because the intensity of flavors is balanced — fish is known to have a light flavor, as does white wine, while red wine and red meat are often richer, and more robust.
Step 3: Complement or Contrasting Flavors
While that’s a great starting point, the red meat and fish rule is not hard and fast. Flavor combinations vary in every dish — some are similar and complement each other, while other flavors contrast, yet are still amazing. The joy of cuisine is it’s subjective, so be creative!
A lemon herb fish dish, for instance, would pair well with a Sauvignon Blanc. The flavors complement each other well, as they’re both light and acidic, plus the citrusy flavors in the wine will enhance the flavors in the dish. If the fish dish is served with a rich, creamy sauce instead, you could still choose an acidic wine like a Sauvignon Blanc. The contrast between the wines’ acidity and the fat of the cream is fantastic, as are many other flavor profiles.
To help decide between complementary and contrasting flavors, consider these pairings.
- Low-alcohol wines like Riesling pair nicely with spicy food.
- Unoaked white wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Vermentino are great with citrusy flavors.
- A light, slightly sweet flavored wine like a Moscato is fantastic with desserts.
Step 4: Follow Your Instincts
In the end, there is no written law for wine pairing. Of course, it’s fun to try new things and explore different flavor profiles, but no one will harass you about it. Feel free to resort to a familiar favorite that you know and love without hesitation if that’s what you crave today.
Don’t let the choice overwhelm you — your wine experience should be enjoyable and stress-free!
