Wine Pairing
by Felicia M. Sherbert

By Felicia Sherbert

You’ve checked out each other over Cosmos and casual conversation, and now you’re ready to take it to the next level over dinner and a good bottle of wine. Lucky for you, we’re hooking you up with some basic wine and food pairing guidelines that will get you through the night and beyond.

Remember the old “red wine with meat, white wine with fish and fowl? That went out with Lobster Thermidor. It’s not uncommon today to have salmon with Pinot Noir, a light versatile red wine, or a juicy steak with a full-bodied Chardonnay, which packs all the bold flavor of a red wine masquerading as a white wine. Today it’s about a myriad of flavors, both on the plate and in the bottle. Start by figuring out what you both are in the mood for, red or white. Fear not if you are a red wine drinker and it turns out that your date prefers white wine because that’s why most restaurants offer a good selection of wines by the glass.

A word of caution--don’t fall into the trap believing that you will ruin the whole meal if you make the "wrong" wine choice. It's impossible to ruin a good meal if you select a wine that you enjoy regardless of what the wine geeks say. Remember, the wine geeks are not eating your dinner, so trust your taste buds.

Having said that, there are two ways to approach wine and food pairings. The first is to go with tried and true timelessly romantic combinations like oysters with Champagne or sparkling wine; lobster with a buttery Chardonnay; or decadent chocolate with a Cabernet Sauvignon. Your other option is to explore the possibilities with your date and be adventurous, using these general guidelines to find the perfect match.

1. Select light-bodied wines to pair with lighter food, and fuller-bodied wines to go with heartier, more flavorful dishes. Consider the way the dish is prepared and the type of sauce or spice used. Using the salmon example above, the Pinot Noir works beautifully with the fish, which let’s say was marinated in a simple vinaigrette to keep it moist, because you are matching light to light. Otherwise a full-bodied, heavier wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon will overpower a light, delicate dish. Similarly, a lighter style wine such as a Pinot Grigio will not even register on your personal flavor meter if you sip it with a juicy grilled filet mignon with Portobello mushrooms. You may as well drink water.



2. Consider geography. Historically wine around the world was made to go with the classic food of the region. Red-sauced pastas with Chianti Classico from Italy and shellfish with Chablis from France are but two examples that offer a simple strategy to narrow down the wine list. If you’re dining at an Italian restaurant, focus on the Italian wines as it is a good bet that you will find a good match with your Italian dinner. The same strategy applies to French, Spanish, or a restaurant specializing in California cuisine. In these cases, go with French, Spanish, or a California selection, respectively.



3. For every food action, there is a wine reaction. When you drink wine by itself it tastes one way, but when you take a bite of food, the wine tastes different. This is because wine is like a spice. Elements in the wine interact with the food to provide a different taste sensation like these basic reactions:

Sweet Foods like Italian tomato sauce, Japanese teriyaki, and honey-mustard glazes make your wine seem drier than it really is, so try an off-dry (slightly sweet) wine to balance the flavor (Chenin Blanc, White Zinfandel, Riesling).

High Acid Foods like salads with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, soy sauce, or fish served with a squeeze of lemon go well with wines higher in acid (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir). White Zinfandel, although not as high in acid, can provide a nice contrast to high acid foods.

Bitter and Astringent Foods like a mixed green salad of bitter greens, Greek kalamata olives and charbroiled meats accentuate a wine's bitterness, so complement it with a full-flavored forward fruity wine (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot). Big tannic red wines (like many red Zinfandels, and Shiraz or Syrah wines) will go best with your classic grilled steak or lamb chops, as the fat in the meat will tone down the tannin (bitterness) in the wine.

Exotic Foods that cover the broad spectrum of flavors and fusions from Thai to Indian and sushi to Spanish tapas [Mediterranean “small plates”] come with their entourage of exotic spices. These can be best matched with more exotic varietals such as Viognier, Gewürztraminer, and Torrontes, all white wines, as well as Malbec, Tempranillo, and Pinotage, all reds, and some unusual and tasty blends that could be either red or white.

Felicia M. Sherbert is a wineanswers.com contributor and the author of The Unofficial Guide to Selecting Wine, winner of the Georges Duboeuf "Book of the Year" Award (Wiley Publishing, Inc.). Her articles have appeared in food, wine, and lifestyle magazines including Wine Spectator and Food Arts. She collaborated with Kevin Zraly on the best-selling Windows on the World Complete Wine Course. Felicia is the president of What’s My Wine? LLC, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Le Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland.