Matching Wine with Food – The ‘How to’ Guide for Wine Matching
2010-01-14 13:24:14
One of the biggest dinner party blunders a host can make is selecting the wrong wine to go with the meal. There is a lot of difference between a good white wine and a good red wine, and those who know their wines are going to be very critical of anyone who fails to serve the right one with a meal. Here’s a basic how to guide for matching wine with a meal so that your food and the wine will work very well together.
While the general rule of thumb is red wine with meat and white wine with seafood, this isn’t a hard rule - you can occasionally serve red with fish or white with beef. However, you don’t want to serve a strong wine with a delicate meal, nor do you want to serve a light, delicate wine with a strong, heavy meat. Experts generally recommend that you serve complex wines with simple meals and simple wines with your more complex food. Many people select their wines to compliment different courses.
To start off a meal, you may want to serve wine with your appetizers. Generally, cheese is served with wine, and there are many different pairings. However, generally you would serve white wine with soft cheese and red wine with hard cheese. For other appetizers, you usually want to go with a nice white wine. Red wine is a bit too heavy and may spoil your taste buds for the rest of the evening. However, Beaujolais can be a good, fresh red wine for oysters. Champagne, because of its delicate taste, is also a good choice for appetizers.
For the salad course, a white wine is generally served. White wines are also very good for fish dishes, including grilled fish, shellfish, shrimp, and lobster. Asian food, poultry, and even some pork dishes are also good compliments to white wines. White wines include Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Red wine, on the other hand, is usually served with heavier foods. It’s not a good choice for appetizers or early courses since it may dominate your palette. Serve Merlot, Cabernet, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, and Port with strong cheese, pasta served in a red sauce, beef dishes, and chocolates. Port, especially, makes a good dessert drink.
For dessert, you may want to go with champagne again because of its light taste. Fruit wines, such as plum wine, are also very good with desserts, although some of them are too sweet for some people’s taste. Gewurztaminer, a spicy white wine, works well with apple pie and pumpkin pie. Ravat is another good dessert wine that has a very distinct apple taste to it. Many people drink it with custard, cheesecake, and crème brule.
Chocolate seems to have a set of rules all to itself, probably because it’s one of the most popular desserts. Chocolate can be accompanied by champagne, Merlot, Port, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, or a late harvest Riesling. Which you presser depends on how sweet the chocolate is. It’s important to drink a sweet wine with sweet chocolate or other dessert; otherwise, the wine will taste somewhat bitter and acidic.
While the general rule of thumb is red wine with meat and white wine with seafood, this isn’t a hard rule - you can occasionally serve red with fish or white with beef. However, you don’t want to serve a strong wine with a delicate meal, nor do you want to serve a light, delicate wine with a strong, heavy meat. Experts generally recommend that you serve complex wines with simple meals and simple wines with your more complex food. Many people select their wines to compliment different courses.
To start off a meal, you may want to serve wine with your appetizers. Generally, cheese is served with wine, and there are many different pairings. However, generally you would serve white wine with soft cheese and red wine with hard cheese. For other appetizers, you usually want to go with a nice white wine. Red wine is a bit too heavy and may spoil your taste buds for the rest of the evening. However, Beaujolais can be a good, fresh red wine for oysters. Champagne, because of its delicate taste, is also a good choice for appetizers.
For the salad course, a white wine is generally served. White wines are also very good for fish dishes, including grilled fish, shellfish, shrimp, and lobster. Asian food, poultry, and even some pork dishes are also good compliments to white wines. White wines include Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Red wine, on the other hand, is usually served with heavier foods. It’s not a good choice for appetizers or early courses since it may dominate your palette. Serve Merlot, Cabernet, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, and Port with strong cheese, pasta served in a red sauce, beef dishes, and chocolates. Port, especially, makes a good dessert drink.
For dessert, you may want to go with champagne again because of its light taste. Fruit wines, such as plum wine, are also very good with desserts, although some of them are too sweet for some people’s taste. Gewurztaminer, a spicy white wine, works well with apple pie and pumpkin pie. Ravat is another good dessert wine that has a very distinct apple taste to it. Many people drink it with custard, cheesecake, and crème brule.
Chocolate seems to have a set of rules all to itself, probably because it’s one of the most popular desserts. Chocolate can be accompanied by champagne, Merlot, Port, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, or a late harvest Riesling. Which you presser depends on how sweet the chocolate is. It’s important to drink a sweet wine with sweet chocolate or other dessert; otherwise, the wine will taste somewhat bitter and acidic.