TALES OF THE VINE

Being human it seems to be our nature to make things unnecessarily complicated, falling into the trap of splitting hairs over what wine will work with what food. Instead of rules to obey I prefer to follow my intuition, supported by some simple and logic anyone can understand, remember and relate to when pairing wine and food.

In many countries, particularly Mediterranean countries, wine is regarded culturally as a food rather than an alcoholic beverage. Any wine, if well chosen to compliment food enhances the quality and enjoyment of the meal, so the art of pairing wine with cuisine is not so much an objective in itself as it is a natural part living.

Some rules for pairing wine and food, like white not red wine with fish, are frequently erroneous while other rules, like no big red wines with egg yolks or shellfish are incontrovertible. Fantastic wine and food matches can occur unpredictably and against the will of popular convention; one of the greatest food and wine matches I have experienced was a pairing of slightly sweet Muscat table wine from Sonoma County, California with a fiery hot Indian Curry. The searing heat of the curry was doused by the cool sweetness of the wine, creating a rollercoaster of flavor sensation like no other I have experienced before or since.

A sure way to ruin a wine and food marriage is to pair a big wine with a light food or a light wine with a heavy food. If I were forced to declare one indispensable rule for food and wine matching it would be that the weight of the food must be related to the weight of the wine. A steak is heavier than lamb, which is heavier than duck, which is heavier than chicken, which is heavier than fish, which is heavier than pasta and so on. Wines may be ranked the same way, from heavy to light body. Make sure the wine’s body is relative to the weight of the food and most other problems choosing a wine simply go away.

If you want to go a little deeper, consider the following: There are five basic flavors - sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory - we can taste. The chemicals that give rise to these flavors are sugars, salts, acids, tannin and glutamic acid (monosodium glutamate). These chemicals interact in the following way: sweetness reduces the perception of sour and bitter, and vice versa. Sour increases the perception of bitterness and vice versa. Savoriness reduces bitterness and increases saltiness. Acidity also reduces the sensation of fattiness from lipids like cheese, butter, cream and oil.

Acidity in wine gives it crispness and freshness while the alcohol percentage is a reasonable guide to the weight or body of the wine. Wines from cool climates like Germany and New Zealand have high acidity and low alcohol, while wines from warm climates like Spain or Southern Italy have low acidity and fairly high alcohol. If you are unsure check the alcohol percent on the label; ordinarily, if it is below 13.5% the wine is increasingly light bodied and crisp and above 13.5% the wine is increasingly full bodied, but less crisp.

As the desired result of any wine and food match is harmony and balance of taste, my point of departure when selecting a wine and food match is first consider which of these five chemical classes is dominant in the wine and in the food; then I consider their interactions. Let me give two examples.

Say you want to match a pan roasted chicken breast with creamy risotto and grilled vegetables to a wine. Assess the weight of the food; in this case its chicken, which I would say is medium bodied. So look for a wine that is also medium bodied - that is, not too heavy or light. Second, consider the dominant chemical composition of the food. In this case it is mostly protein, fat and starch. We know acidity ‘cuts’ the heaviness of fatty foods so we look for a fairly crisp wine but not too light in body, something around 13 - 13.5% alcohol. Unless there are some added sauces or infusions introducing acidity or sugar almost any medium bodied wine will prove a great match for this dish.

Now consider steamed white fish in a lemon sauce. The fish is light bodied and the dominant flavor is sourness from the lemon’s acidity. Sour makes sour more sour so don’t select an acidic wine or a big wine whose body would overpower the delicate weight of the fish. Choose a light bodied wine without too much acidity. Here there are fewer options so follow the common wisdom of choosing wines like Orvieto and Soave that are light but not too acidic.

Actually, you don’t have to know any of this stuff to make a good match if you follow your likes and dislikes. Most people naturally find the right matches with favorite foods and wines over time, with experience. The problem most people have is that they never write down what it is they like so they do not remember the names of the wines later. Get a note book for your wine and record the taste of the wines you like along with their names, for future reference.

To experience joy instead of dread at table just remember to match the weight of the food to the wine, follow your own personal tastes and bear in mind that dining is meant to be a pleasure not a chore. If you do make an unfortunate bad match along the way just consider it a lesson, not a disappointment. That nothing is to be taken too seriously is one of the greatest lessons wine teaches us about life, as well as adding pleasure to the meals we enjoy along the way.