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Featured Article

Food and wine pairing

Food and wine pairing is the process of pairing a food with complementary flavors, aromas, and textures found in wine. It can be a nuanced art and the life-long study of oenophiles and sommeliers. In very up-scale dining situations, it is common for each dish in a multi-course meal to be matched with a different wine. While individual taste certainly plays a large role in wine and food matching, there are traditionally accepted guidelines. However, it is worth noting that a well-selected, non-traditional pairing can bring an unexpected or exciting new dimension to a meal.

Perhaps the most basic guideline, familiar to even wine novices, is, “red with red and white with white”. It says that, as a guiding heuristic, white wine should be served with white-fleshed meats (fish, chicken, etc.) and red wine served with beef, lamb, and other red meats. While sound advice, it is an oversimplification. [1] In fact, many dishes, including pork, salmon, duck, and turkey, can be successfully paired with red or white wine.

This advice is only a starting point, as each fish or meat can be prepared in a variety of ways calling for different wines. Fish poached in red wine for example, will be better matched with a light red than with many whites. This leads to a second guideline that if the cuisine has a strong character, "match to the sauce, not the protein" can be the best approach.

A useful perspective is to match the food of a country or region with wines also from that country or region. Most Italian wines will match well with pizza, pasta, or risotto, for example, if the dishes are prepared according to traditional recipes. And the contrary is also relevant: a French wine from Bordeaux, for example, may not sit comfortably alongside dishes incorporating olive oil or spices, ingredients alien to Bordeaux's indigenous cuisine.

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