The subject that still tickles minds has moved beyond white with white and red with red. Although that is still a pretty good rule of thumb. Wine and food pairing can be as simple as drinking what you like with what you like to eat if that works for you but for those interested in matching their wine and food at least to the point that they sort of compliment each other, then this article is for you. There is an art to food and wine pairing and it can get a little complicated and technical but this guide is for those, like me, that simply want to have food and wine that doesn't taste nasty together. To that end, there are just a few things to remember when selecting your wine and food combination. Frankly, most wine and food go fairly well together but some pairings are just better than others and remembering these simple rules can actually create, for most people, what appears to be a well thought out synergy between your culinary creations and that next bottle of wine. The rules, if you will, include matching flavor profiles of the recipe with that of the wine, matching the flavor intensity, considering key flavor elements present in the wine and the dish including that delicious marinade or sauce, considering key elements like sweetness, tartness (acidity), savoriness (umami), spice as in heat (chili or pepper), texture, richness and other potential components in food like fat and butter. That's quite a list but it's made easy by simple asking the question in order for both the dish and the wine. Obviously, fat and chili spice isn't present in wine, at least unless its added like some weird Southwestern US wine. Butter, however, doesn't only add textural richness but the distinct flavor of diacetyl acetate or that butter flavor. Mushrooms not only add an earthy flavor to dishes but when cooked release a chemical that causes savoriness or "Umami" as does soy and beef steak. So lets begin.

Matching the flavor intensity - Some dishes are light and elegant and others are heavy and bold. Pairing a light bodied wine with a bold, rich dish seldom goes well due to this one consideration, The poor wine will be overwhelmed by the boldness of the dish. So, lets take seared scallops done simply in a lemon wine butter. While scallop done this way is still flavorful and the butter adds some textural richness, it is still a relatively lighter dish. For this reason, it is most favorably paired with a wine like Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc, and unoaked Chardonnay, Albarino, Pinot Grigio (richer style). One of the reasons for not using a heavier white wine is that you don't want to overpower the dleicate flavors of the star of the meal, that fresh scallop, that probably cost a fair amount of cash. The lemon ties it in well with the higher acidity of the listed wines, whose high acid levels also help to compliment the richness imparted by the butter, while the flavor intensity of finer example of these types of wines are an easy match for that of the fresh scallop itself. Often the wines entioned have a earthy minerality that pairs nicely with the briny nature of the scallop, tieing in a key element in the flavor profiles. Lets take a popular pasta dish like Spaghetti Bolognese. The basic components of the dish can be broken down by a light herbaceousness, the rich beef flavor, earthy parmesan-reggiano and the umami coming from both. Throw in the yeasty toastiness of the butter rich garlic bread that usually accompanies it and a little more earth and a but of spice emparted by the garlic and we have our profile. Beef dishes naturally scream for a red wine and usually a hearty one. There are many that will work in this instance but lets cover just a few. Sangiovese seems a natural due to the popularity of Chianti with Italian food and this famed Tuscan origin is still a great choice but at the Riserva level. It is actually, a natural regional pairing for Bolognese that originated in neighboring Emilia-Romagna, where Sangiovese is also a major red grape. Classic Italian Sangiovese displays medium to full body and flavor intensity matching the intensity of the dish, there is usually an earthy herbal and forest floor and occasionally mushroom or tobacco edge to them as well, tieing in well to the earthy component in the dish. Red wines aged in oak like Chianti Classico Riservas often display tannin and acidity levels that add that savory edge to match the Umami component in a good Bolognese. The tomato component in the sauce brings an acidic edge to the dish that plays well with the acid and tannin levels of a wine like Sangiovese. Other great pairings include Nebbiolo based Barolo or Barbaresco, bigger Barbera, Dolcetto, Tempranillo like Rioja and of course Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Zinfandel. especially those from high elevation vineyards with more structural acidity and tannin.

Acidity and sweetness are two sides of a coin and they help to balance one another out or cancel themselves out. Let me explain. Lets take a dish like a salad with a vinaigrette type dressing. When paired with a wine that doesn't have really good acidity, it can make it taste flat as it "cancels" the acid structure of the wine when comsumed as a pairing. The wine comes off as unbalanced and perhaps even cloying of it has residual sugar content and even if dry can come off flat or dull. Now this all depends upon the exact nature of a vinaigette because a classic one is much different than say a Raspberry Vinaigrette made with sugar or a Raspberry syrup or even a raspberry balsamic, that has become quite popular in certain areas. For something like this a high acid wine with a little RS would be a great balancing choice. In the first case because sweetness off-sets tartness. Riesling from an area like Germany's Mosel Valley is such a wine. For a classic vigaigrette, the tartness can take advantage of the cancelling effect of an acidic wine like Sauvignon Blanc, Albarino, a dry Riesling or dry Muscat. The effect allows the flavor component to become prominent of the palate, so now the flavor components of the salad would come into play for the final selection. Herbs in the vinaigrette, the type of greens used like endive or frisee, olives, mushrooms, fruit, seafood etc will alter the detailed profile of the dish and intensity as well. Something as simple as the intensity of the vinaigette whould be considered, some are very light and others pretty intense. Again this is about just asking simple questions in order to achieve better balance between wine and food. 

For more on wine and food (because there is a lot more than can be said), consider buying a good book on the subject like Rajat Parr's The Sommeliers Atlas of Flavor or Linda Johnson Bell's Pairing Wine and Food, Perfect Pairings by Evan Goldstein or What to Drink with What to Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. Or, you can just keep reading more post on the subject right on this website FREE! Also, join me and Matt on our podcast or youtube channel, Rumble chanel or for one of our classes, where we discuss the subject.