Over in the well-done steak thread, mssmith537 made this tangential comment:
Well, that reminded me that the other night I might’ve given that last impression. In my defense, I ordered the wine before I had decided on a dish, and based solely on the fact that I was in the mood for a glass of wine and had liked that particular Merlot on a previous occasion. I eventually decided that I was hungry for a steak while the waitress was off filling our drink orders. As a final point, this was also at Macaroni Grill, so we’re not talking about a pinnacle of haute cuisine (although I certainly do enjoy their food).
So what are the criteria for pairing a wine with a food? I’ve never been able to get beyond the “red meat = red wine, fish = white wine” rule of thumb. And where does pasta, poultry or pork fit in? I’m thinking that you’d probably want a contrast between the drink and the dish (so you wouldn’t want a sweet wine with a dessert), but maybe even that’s off base.
And are there combinations that would actually detract from the enjoyment of the meal (assuming that you like the taste of each individually), or is it more that it’s not as “well balanced” as it could’ve been with another choice?
If anyone can help assuage my ignorance on this (or give some useful references), I might eventually be allowed to go out in polite society.
Well, there are old traditional wine rules, but now of course everybody says “You don’t have to follow the rules anymore!” Some of the reasons why you don’t necessarily have to follow them anymore have to do with changes in the way we eat.
You’re not supposed to drink wine with a salad. That’s because salad dressings used to always be oil-and-vinegar. This will make your wine taste like ass. There’s nothing wrong with drinking wine with, I dunno, ranch, because it doesn’t have the effect on the taste that a vinagrette would.
You’re not supposed to drink wine with soup. That’s because “soup”, in an old classy restaurant, is consomme, which would be a bad texture to drink wine with; you’d lose your texture contrast and it wouldn’t be nice for you. You can drink wine with a thick hearty stew, of course.
In other words, some of the “rules” aren’t there to be snobby, they’re there to protect you from a gross experience. And when they say “the rules are dead!”, that often means less about the rules than it does about the way we eat now.
The general idea that you eat red with meat and white with poultry and seafood is just based on the idea that richer food need a more robust wine to compliment them. A rich spicy poultry dish might call for a heavier white (or even a red) because a light wine you wouldn’t even be able to taste. Richer flavours call for richer flavours.
So the rules do if fact make sense…but that doesn’t mean you have to be anal about them. Sometimes I have a heavy beef meal and feel like a light white as couterpoint. So fuck 'um,
(this seems to be a part of the ungoing sophistication debate here…in which case I will say again it’s not what you like it’s have some idea of what’s out there and knowing why you like what you like)
Choose a food you like. Choose a wine you like. If something seems to make you go, mmm, that would taste good together, pick it. You’ll figure out what you like together, just like I like milk with spaghetti and meatballs and lemonade with sugar-cookies.
If you find a combination that’s yummy, enjoy it. If you find a combination that just isn’t quite right (like lemonade with spaghetti and meatballs), then don’t do it again.
If someone tells you it’s wrong, throw rocks at them until they go away.
Try things out. Just keep in mind that a more robust wine will tend to go better with a robust flavor. Having a powerful California shiraz with a delicate seafood dish may not be a great idea because the shiraz would leave a strong aftertaste and may make it hard to taste the seafood. The opposite is also a true. Having a strongly flavored pasta dish may overpower a subtle French white. I’ve found it generally only matters at the extremes.
The red/white thing was more a rule because old world wines tended to be more subtle. New world wines are more robust and, generally speaking, can handle pretty much anything you throw at them, even whites. When people realized this back in the 70s, they started tossing out the old rules.
And, of course, it never hurts to pair the regions. If you’re eating at an Italian restaurant and you want a meal that originated in Tuscany, you may want to go with a Tuscan wine. After all, that’s hundreds of years of evolution to get the pairing right.
There are some guidelines, but that’s all they are. It really comes down to experimenting.
I personally try to use some of the old guidelines, and then I use my imagination, just like others have said, if you think a food and wine might go well together, try it. No harm, no foul. A huge help for me personally has been attending winemaker’s dinners.
Pasta, poultry, and pork - All depends on what you like and how it’s prepared.
A pasta in a cream sauce will go better with a white, a red sauce with a red.
betenoir explained the concept well.
Pair wine and food with similar flavor, weight and texture. Pair food and wine with similar sweetness. - You *would *want a sweet wine with dessert, but again, not always, chocolate and cabernet sauvignon is a classic pairing.
One notorious pairing pest is asparagus. It tends to give wines a metallic taste.
There are plenty of websites and books with great information on pairing, and other subjects related to wine.
Try this one for now, it might be helpful. Or if you’re looking for a chart, try this one. - Again, those are only guidelines.
There are also communites available for wine discussion such as this one on livejournal (yes I manage it and yes this is a shamless plug where the members are a wonderful resource and have a wealth of knowledge on all things wine related, including pairing.
