Wine Pairing Primer
ONE
of the most common questions I get in my wine beginnings
class pertains to food and wine pairings. To begin to
understand how food and wine react differently (depending on
what kinds are used), one basic piece of the puzzle needs to
be understood first: wine is a condiment. In the recent few
decades, which I will sarcastically call the age of the wine
critic, we have lost sight of this basic understanding of
food and wine. A few hundred years ago when spice was very
expensive, wine was the seasoning to everyday food. The
spice trade was so lucrative that if you look at some old
coat-of-arms you’ll see little black balls on the shield.
These are not cannon balls, but peppercorns. Wine was a part
of everyday food because during this point in history, wine
(and beer) were much safer to drink than water.
When thinking
about pairings what is also important to remember is there
are no rules. The old adage that white goes with fish and
red with meat was coined when again wine was the spice. In
today’s cuisine of many cultures, styles and fusions, there
are only guidelines. Of course, there are a few pairings
that probably will never work, such as an old red Bordeaux
with oysters on the half shell. If you don’t understand why
these two don’t work, try them. Recently released red
Bordeaux or other international blend such as a Meritage
will do. Taste the wine, then the oysters and go back again
to the wine. What happened? How did those bite-sized pockets
that are brine of the sea react to the wine? What did the
tannin, acidity and fruit do? Notice, where the fruit notes
of the wine were, they are gone now. The acidity has an
overemphasis while the tannin is astringent and bitter.
Having this awareness of a negative food and wine pairing
reaction is important to a greater knowledge with food and
wine. One day it wouldn’t surprise me if there were some
creative Chef and Sommelier team that could prove me wrong
by making this pairing work. But it hasn’t happened
yet.
If you happen to
be dealing with traditional cuisine look at the specific
area in which it comes from. For example, if you are looking
to pair Tuscan cuisine with red wine the overlapping
similarities of food are certainly not by accident. More
than a few dishes involve the use of tomatoes. In and of
themselves, tomatoes do have a natural level of acidity. If
you use a low acid, highly extracted style of wine, like
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel, the level of
acidity will cause a negative effect on the wine. However,
with a red wine that does have a solid amount of acidity
like a Sangiovese from Chianti, the pairing works extremely
well.
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A SAUVIGNON RIESLING CHARDONNAY PINOT SYRAH CABERNET |
