WineBase Guide to Wine
Six Steps to Perfect Wine Dining
Forget the rules
If the very presence of wine makes a meal more enjoyable, why worry whether wine A, B or C would be better with the food? Why not drink whatever is to hand, or settle for the wine you usually drink? The simple reason is that some wine and food partnerships work particularly well, pleasing more of the people more of the time, and others do precisely the opposite. You’re not wrong if you like some eccentric seeming combination of strapping red wine with smoked mackerel, Sauternes with steak, Sancerre with chocolate, but you won’t make many friends by inflicting such combinations on others. At the other end of the spectrum there are those who endlessly pursue the elusive perfect match. But this misses one crucial point: a range of wines, sometimes very different ones, can happily partner most dishes. A few ethereal partnerships have stood the test of time and every new culinary and wine trend, but what makes the business of matching wine and food enjoyable is that there isn’t one correct answer: there are many. Finding them is a matter of grasping a few neat principles.
Styles have changed
In the past, it was easy: food and wine was simpler. If you were on holiday in a wine region, you drank the local wines (still generally a good policy). In Britain, you followed the rules: white wine with fish and white meat; red wine with red meat and game. And, never mind the vegetarians. This worked well enough most of the time, because ingredients and recipes were more narrowly based. You might have cooked or dined out on French haute cuisine on high days and holidays, but you didn’t mix Asian spices with Welsh lamb, cook fish in red wine, take away a Thai curry, or conjure up an authentic couscous. Equally, the range of wines was much more restricted and the styles were different. Many of the wines we drink today are softer but fuller-bodied and more overtly fruity. In particular, red wines are less tannic (tannin is the dry, gum-coating substance also In stewed tea, but barely perceptible in white wines), and it is tannin that clashes with fish to make wine taste metallic or bitter. That doesn’t mean all reds should be drunk freely with fish, but some, especially those made from the low-tannin pinot noir grape, can go extremely well with more substantial kinds of fish, such as salmon and tuna.
Drink white wine with red meat
Another reason behind the original diktat was that white wines were mostly lighter-bodied than red wines, just as fish and white meat were more delicate than red meat. There are still more light-bodied white wines than reds, but there are a great many heavyweight, oaky Chardonnay’s that would overwhelm such food as sole, skate, prawns and poached chicken. Red wines were served with red meat because they were heavier, but also because, cooked rare and unsauced, the texture of red meat can make a tannic wine seem less tannic. That is still the case, but also it’s perfectly possible to enjoy a full-bodied Chardonnay with steak, provided you choose a good-quality one with real depth of flavour.
Match light dishes to light wines
There is no reason why you shouldn’t use the old colour code as a starting point if you feel comfortable with it, but it’s essential not to be ruled by it. A far more important guide is the weight of the dish. Is it a light stir-fry, a rich, rib-sticking casserole, or a lighter, but still fairly substantial roast? If it’s pasta, is it a fresh, light spaghetti or a rich baked lasagne? Usually, you will want to match the weight of the wine to that of the dish: a medium-bodied Cabernet/Merlot with the roast, a lightish Chardonnay with the spaghetti and clams, and so on. But there are exceptions, just occasionally the richness of a dish can be cut, or offset, by a relatively light wine.
See what else is on the plate
Another key consideration is the intensity of individual flavours and their role in the dish. Light foods are by no means necessarily bland. Asparagus has an assertive flavour. And, conveniently, it finds a companionable echo in Sauvignon Blanc wines. But Sauvignon won’t always be appropriate. It will depend how and with what the asparagus are cooked (Parmesan, ham, and hollandaise?). Indian and Asian spices are another case. While you won’t be trying to match the wine to individual spices, you will be looking for the kinds of wine that cope well with spicy food. If red wines seem in order, you will be looking for something not too tannic and oaky.
Heavily reduced sauces, including the kind of meat glazes that often appear as jus on a menu, can be a source of unexpectedly concentrated, savoury flavours, as can bacon, dried porcini, red wine and Madeira. In principle, they may call for fairly full-bodied red wines, but you still have to take account of what else is on the plate. Domineering flavours aren’t confined to food. Very oaky wines with their telltale toast, vanilla, smoked bacon and coconut flavours aren’t very food-friendly. They need fairly robust food flavours and cooking methods, so, think along the lines of chargrills and casseroles, red peppers, garlic and herbs.
Look out for acidity and sweetness
Two others things that you need to be especially alert to are the acidity and the sweetness in any dish. Both are potential wine-killers, but there is a simple rule of thumb for each. Acidity in food needs to be matched by that in the wine; if it isn’t, the wine will taste dull and flat. That means remembering not just the squeeze of lemon and the vinaigrette, but the tomatoes, capers, chutney, apple sauce, beurre blanc, tartare sauce and countless others. Bear in mind that white wines generally have higher acid levels than reds. With sweetness, the unbending rule is sweet wines with sweet food, and be sure that the wine is at least as sweet as the food; It will taste sour if it isn’t, as anybody who has tried drinking Sancerre with pudding will know. Sweetness in a savoury dish is less clear-cut. You won’t want a sweet wine just because there is sweetness from vegetables or fruit (onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes), or from a sauce or relish, but all these are likely to make red wine with tannin taste dry and harsh and a light, dry white taste thin and sharp. The answer is the sort of ripe, full flavours that come from sunny climates. And that’s about it: weight, the intensity of the various flavours, acidity, and sweetness.
If the very presence of wine makes a meal more enjoyable, why worry whether wine A, B or C would be better with the food? Why not drink whatever is to hand, or settle for the wine you usually drink? The simple reason is that some wine and food partnerships work particularly well, pleasing more of the people more of the time, and others do precisely the opposite. You’re not wrong if you like some eccentric seeming combination of strapping red wine with smoked mackerel, Sauternes with steak, Sancerre with chocolate, but you won’t make many friends by inflicting such combinations on others. At the other end of the spectrum there are those who endlessly pursue the elusive perfect match. But this misses one crucial point: a range of wines, sometimes very different ones, can happily partner most dishes. A few ethereal partnerships have stood the test of time and every new culinary and wine trend, but what makes the business of matching wine and food enjoyable is that there isn’t one correct answer: there are many. Finding them is a matter of grasping a few neat principles.
Styles have changed
In the past, it was easy: food and wine was simpler. If you were on holiday in a wine region, you drank the local wines (still generally a good policy). In Britain, you followed the rules: white wine with fish and white meat; red wine with red meat and game. And, never mind the vegetarians. This worked well enough most of the time, because ingredients and recipes were more narrowly based. You might have cooked or dined out on French haute cuisine on high days and holidays, but you didn’t mix Asian spices with Welsh lamb, cook fish in red wine, take away a Thai curry, or conjure up an authentic couscous. Equally, the range of wines was much more restricted and the styles were different. Many of the wines we drink today are softer but fuller-bodied and more overtly fruity. In particular, red wines are less tannic (tannin is the dry, gum-coating substance also In stewed tea, but barely perceptible in white wines), and it is tannin that clashes with fish to make wine taste metallic or bitter. That doesn’t mean all reds should be drunk freely with fish, but some, especially those made from the low-tannin pinot noir grape, can go extremely well with more substantial kinds of fish, such as salmon and tuna.
Drink white wine with red meat
Another reason behind the original diktat was that white wines were mostly lighter-bodied than red wines, just as fish and white meat were more delicate than red meat. There are still more light-bodied white wines than reds, but there are a great many heavyweight, oaky Chardonnay’s that would overwhelm such food as sole, skate, prawns and poached chicken. Red wines were served with red meat because they were heavier, but also because, cooked rare and unsauced, the texture of red meat can make a tannic wine seem less tannic. That is still the case, but also it’s perfectly possible to enjoy a full-bodied Chardonnay with steak, provided you choose a good-quality one with real depth of flavour.
Match light dishes to light wines
There is no reason why you shouldn’t use the old colour code as a starting point if you feel comfortable with it, but it’s essential not to be ruled by it. A far more important guide is the weight of the dish. Is it a light stir-fry, a rich, rib-sticking casserole, or a lighter, but still fairly substantial roast? If it’s pasta, is it a fresh, light spaghetti or a rich baked lasagne? Usually, you will want to match the weight of the wine to that of the dish: a medium-bodied Cabernet/Merlot with the roast, a lightish Chardonnay with the spaghetti and clams, and so on. But there are exceptions, just occasionally the richness of a dish can be cut, or offset, by a relatively light wine.
See what else is on the plate
Another key consideration is the intensity of individual flavours and their role in the dish. Light foods are by no means necessarily bland. Asparagus has an assertive flavour. And, conveniently, it finds a companionable echo in Sauvignon Blanc wines. But Sauvignon won’t always be appropriate. It will depend how and with what the asparagus are cooked (Parmesan, ham, and hollandaise?). Indian and Asian spices are another case. While you won’t be trying to match the wine to individual spices, you will be looking for the kinds of wine that cope well with spicy food. If red wines seem in order, you will be looking for something not too tannic and oaky.
Heavily reduced sauces, including the kind of meat glazes that often appear as jus on a menu, can be a source of unexpectedly concentrated, savoury flavours, as can bacon, dried porcini, red wine and Madeira. In principle, they may call for fairly full-bodied red wines, but you still have to take account of what else is on the plate. Domineering flavours aren’t confined to food. Very oaky wines with their telltale toast, vanilla, smoked bacon and coconut flavours aren’t very food-friendly. They need fairly robust food flavours and cooking methods, so, think along the lines of chargrills and casseroles, red peppers, garlic and herbs.
Look out for acidity and sweetness
Two others things that you need to be especially alert to are the acidity and the sweetness in any dish. Both are potential wine-killers, but there is a simple rule of thumb for each. Acidity in food needs to be matched by that in the wine; if it isn’t, the wine will taste dull and flat. That means remembering not just the squeeze of lemon and the vinaigrette, but the tomatoes, capers, chutney, apple sauce, beurre blanc, tartare sauce and countless others. Bear in mind that white wines generally have higher acid levels than reds. With sweetness, the unbending rule is sweet wines with sweet food, and be sure that the wine is at least as sweet as the food; It will taste sour if it isn’t, as anybody who has tried drinking Sancerre with pudding will know. Sweetness in a savoury dish is less clear-cut. You won’t want a sweet wine just because there is sweetness from vegetables or fruit (onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes), or from a sauce or relish, but all these are likely to make red wine with tannin taste dry and harsh and a light, dry white taste thin and sharp. The answer is the sort of ripe, full flavours that come from sunny climates. And that’s about it: weight, the intensity of the various flavours, acidity, and sweetness.
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