Food and Wine Matching Guide

So maybe that hot date is coming over and you want to class up your take-out  with a good glass of wine.  Or maybe you are that person that stares at the lengthy wine list, wondering what to order with your filet.   Or perhaps you are hosting a fancy dinner party  for your new neighbours, hoping to make a good first impression.  The right kind of wine can mean everything to your food, so no matter what your wine hang-ups may be, we are here to help you through. 

Why Bother?

Just as the right combination of ingredients  complement and highlight each other to create a perfect dish, pairing the right wine with a meal creates a combination that celebrates and enhances the experiences of both the food and the wine.  We all know that recipes don't have to be complex to be mouth-watering and delicious, and you certainly don't have to be a wine connoisseur or gourmet chef to reap the benefits of the right wine and food pairings.   A basic understanding of the food, the wine, and how the components and flavours in each interact, can make it easy to find a successful pairing on a regular basis and can greatly increase the chances of finding an exciting synergy between wine and food! 

Where to Begin

• Start with the wine.
• Beginners should go with a wine that they know and love and then work to create a meal around that.  The simple reason for this is because it is much easier to tweak a food recipe to complement the known flavours of your wine than it is to be blending wine varieties  to complement your dish.
• Just remember that if your recipe  doesn't work out, at least you still have a great bottle of wine  to enjoy!

• Be prepared with the food.
• Typically, it's safe to go white wine  with white meat and red wine  with red meat, but this doesn't always work out.  This is why selecting wine in a restaurant can be so tricky; sometimes the dish has a different flavour or texture than you might have anticipated when you placed your order. 
• To get around this problem, it's best to know how a dish is being prepared and what goes into it.  Understanding the components and flavours will help when it comes to understanding what type of wine to pair the meal with. 

Key Points

There are three things to keep in mind when it comes to selecting food to match your wine, and vice versa.  They are:

1. Know the food item being prepared.
2. Know the cooking method of that item.
3. Know the additional flavours and/or sauces that will be added to it. 

The fundamental rule is to begin by pairing delicate wines with delicate flavours, medium-bodied wines with medium-weight or intense flavours, and strongly flavoured foods with wines that will stand up to their pungency.  To help keep things simple as you get started, we’ve put together the following table. Like anything, these are not absolute rules, but good guidelines to follow to help create the most successful and interesting pairings. 

Delicate Flavours Wines:  Riesling,  Sauvignon Blanc  Foods:  Salads,Vegetables, Fish Sauces:  Lemon-based Preparation:  Steamed, Poached	Earthy, Hearty Flavours Wines:   Chardonnay,  Pinot Noir,  Merlot  Foods:  Poultry, Game Birds, Pork, Veal Sauces:  Butter, Cream Preparation:  Sautéed, Baked, Roasted	Meaty, Spicy Flavours Wines:  Cabernet Sauvignon,  Shiraz,  Zinfandel  Foods:  Beef Sauces:  Meat Sauce, Wine Demiglace Preparation:  Grilled, Braised

Wine and Cheese

Any simple gathering can easily turn into a fun and classy tasting event with the proper wine,  cheese,  and fruit.    Yet the average home entertainer can feel lost or overwhelmed with all of the choices!  We have compiled some common varieties to make the decision much easier. 

Champagne : Taste is enhanced with Brie, Mild Cheddar, and Gouda cheeses. Chardonnay : Best accompanied by Bucheron, Mild Cheddar, Gruyere, Goat Cheese, Panela, Parmigiano, and Provolone cheeses.  Riesling : Should be paired with Cheshire, Colby, Gouda, and Monterey Jack cheeses. Sauvignon Blanc :  Serve with Bucheron, Sharp Cheddar, Derby, Graddost, Gruyere, Neufchatel, Sonoma Jack, and Teleme cheeses.

Beaujolais :  Delicious with Feta, Morbier, Muenster, and Raclette cheeses. Cabernet Sauvignon :  Try matching it with Camembert, Sharp Cheddar, or Danish Blue cheeses.  Chianti :  Perfectly complemented by Adrahan, Mozzarella Bufala, Pecorino, and Provolone cheeses. Merlot :  Could be served with Brie, Garrotxa, Manchengo, or Smoked Gouda cheeses.   Pinot Noir :  Accompany it with Adrahan or Edam cheeses.  Tawny Port :  Matches nicely with Blue, Roquefort, and Stilton cheeses.

Related Guides

Check out some of our other guides to pick up even more great wine tips! 

Analysing Wine	Red Wines	White Wines	Wine Glasses	Wine Tasting

External Links

• MatchingFoodAndWine.com: Food writer Fiona Beckett gives one of the most comprehensive matching guides out there. 
• TableWine.com:  An article to help you answer one of life's toughest questions: beer or wine with Chinese food? 
• WineAnswers.com:  Pick your dish and get instant wine matches, plus answers to all of your wine questions.  
• WineExperience.com:  A wine and food pairing application helps you create the perfect balance.