Quick food and wine pairing tips for the uninitiated

Normally, you’ll get out with your family or friends to eat at a fancy restaurant and have some conversation, get some wine and order your fave dishes.

Sometimes, upon tasting the food and drinking the wine it came with, you’ll notice something awfully wrong. What’s with this dish? Why do I feel like my order was messed up?

Well, I’m pretty sure it’ll taste funny if you didn’t check what wine suits your dish best. You don’t actually have to be a genius to know what wine will fit with your food, you may familiarize yourself with good food and wine pairing.

If you’re dumbfounded at the moment, simply ask the waiter/waitress their wine recommendation to pair with your order. And if they don’t know what to recommend (which is a shame), then the more reason to educate yourself – which is why you’re currently reading this post.

First, what do you like to drink?

Knowing what wine you prefer to drink often makes the rules simpler. It makes you decide easier what to order in the restaurant. But if you don’t have any idea, or if you’re a first timer, here are some wines you might want to consider.

Light whites – you can choose from Pinot gris, Pinot blanc, classic pinot gris, Champagne, and sparkling wines while Oaked Sauvignon blanc, White Bordeaux, White Burgundy and New World Chardonnay are the classics for medium to heavy whites. If you want red wines, Beaujolais and Dolcetto tops the lighter reds. Cabernet franc, Chianti, Burgundy, Zinfandel and Chinon go for medium reds. For a stronger taste, heavy reds are the best (Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino).

Think about your dish, how does it taste?

Usually, the dominant characteristics of your meal as a whole will play a vital role which wine you will choose. Is it mild, flavorful, fatty or not, or is it rich or acidic? With these characteristics, choose a wine that will balance all the flavors. Keep in mind the sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and saltiness and make a pairing that will complete your dining experience.

Here’s a more detailed approach to the fundamentals:

1. Fatty and sweet foods often pair well with the most wines.

2. Acidic or wines with high alcohol content don’t go with highly fatty foods. You might find yourself eating and drinking something that will make your stomach churn.

3. Sweet foods are good for tannic or bitter tasting wines.

4. If you love fatty foods, you might want to take a wine with medium alcohol content.

5. Salty foods must not be paired with the acidic wines if you don’t want to have a bland tasting food.

6. Sweet foods and wine go well with a bit of acidity.

You can’t memorize all of this instantly, so here’s another unorthodox technique – wines and food are better together if they grew up in the same region. This may not always be the perfect pairing; however, it will help you next time in choosing your plate.

Ordering and tasting wines at home will help your selection in real life situation. You may start with wine selections from Advintage or choose from other collection of fine wines.

The next time you visit a restaurant, you can take the lead in choosing and suggesting the perfect food and wine pair for a complete dining experience.

Image by Bill Holmes under Creative Commons license.
This post was writen in association with Advintage.