Wine & Food Pairing: Understanding the Basics
Wine & Food Pairing Series
This is the first post from my Wine & Food Pairing Series which touches upon some of the basic concepts which will be built upon in later posts.
Many people find pairing wine & food a daunting task, but it’s about balance to maximise the value that each component brings, to elevate the dining experience. However, the best thing to remember is that food and wine pairing is subjective. I do delve into some of the simple recommended guidelines, but these are not hard and fast rules; if you match what you enjoy then you can’t go wrong!
There are 6 main flavour profiles that you should consider when pairing wine & food:
1.      Acidity
2.      Bitter (Tannins)
3.      Sweet
4.      Fatty
5.      Salty
6.      Spice
Wine can be grouped into the first 3 categories (acidity, sweet, bitter) – red wines have more bitterness, white, rosé and sparkling wines have more acidity and sweet wines have more sweetness. Primarily it is important to understand the basic components in the wine and in the food dish, i.e. simplifying the wine and food dish down to its basic dominant tastes. A good starting point in wine and food pairings is matching the wine to the most prominent element of the food dish, this could be the seasonings, sauce or the main ingredient.
Generally, there are 2 recognised methods of pairing wine with food: Congruent & Complementary.
Congruent Wine Pairings is when you pair two similar flavours together, which amplify one another’s shared flavour compounds and enhance them. For example, a soft and creamy Chardonnay pairs well with a creamy carbonara or a Merlot with plum notes will pair nicely with duck in a plum sauce.
Complementary Wine Pairings is when one flavour profile cuts through and complements the other. For example, a slightly sweet Riesling will balance nicely with the spices in Indian Food.
Once you have broken down the flavour characteristics of your wine and food there are a few simple concepts that you can consider when creating your food & wine pairing.
Pair by perceived weight, meaning that lightweight foods such as poultry and fish are complimented by more delicate wines (e.g. white wine or a light low-tannin red) and heavier foods such as red meat need fuller-bodied wines.
Match the flavour intensity and character, meaning that similar flavours will complement one another. For example, fish in a lemon sauce will pair well with a Pinot Gris that also has citrus flavour characteristics.
Consider the acidity & sweetness in the wine, as the wine should always be more acidic and at least as sweet as the food.
And finally, be careful of mixing tannic wines with salty foods as the salt can enhance the bitterness of the tannins - this is because bitter wines are best balanced with fatty foods.
Understanding the principles around food and wine pairing is a great starting point, but pairing wine with food is a creative process and the best pairings are often unexpected!
I went to a Wine & Crisps Tasting, hosted by the East London Wine School which was great fun and there were both Congruent and Contrasting Pairings made.
A crisp New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was paired with Pickled Onion Monster Munch, a slightly sweet French Gewuztraminer was paired with Sensations Sweet Chilli and an Argentinian Malbec was paired with Beef Hula Hoops!
