Considering the diversity of wine, picking the perfect bottle can feel like a daunting task. With so many options, the possibilities are endless. It gets harder still once food enters the picture. The two go together, but only if you know roughly what you're doing. Here is an easy guide to pairing food and wine, with some combinations worth trying.
Most people assume food and wine pairing requires a three-course meal. You're free to do that if you have the culinary skills for it, but the beauty of wine is that it can be enjoyed however you want. Even simple food tastes better when the flavours work. To give you an idea of how basic you can go: Chardonnay and buttery popcorn is a genuinely good pairing. For something fruitier, try an unoaked white with salted popcorn. There's no limit to what you can try.
Before you start experimenting, it helps to understand flavours. That's fairly straightforward with food, since we recognise a manageable number of tastes and most are obvious on the first bite. Wine is more complex. Understanding a wine fully takes years of practice, but the basics are learnable in an afternoon. Our beginner's guide to wine appreciation covers how to read one properly.
With that established, here are the basics.
Food and Wine Pairing Basics
- There's real science behind it. Wine reacts with the carbohydrates, fat and protein in a dish, which is why high-end restaurants build pairing menus. Some combinations work and some clash.
- Keep it simple. Instead of chasing richness or sweetness, pay attention to taste. Opposites usually attract.
- Don't lean too hard on the flavour descriptions on the back label. Those are written for people who already know the vocabulary. Focus on what you actually taste. Everyone's aroma receptors differ, so everyone reads a wine slightly differently.
- Never go for a pairing you don't enjoy, however much other people rave about it.
What Works Together
Red wine works with red meat. The tannin in red wine interacts with the protein and fat in the meat, and both come out better for it.
White wine works with poultry and fish. The acidity lifts the flavour of the fish, in much the same way a squeeze of lemon does.
Here's the tricky part: what do you do when the dish carries a heavy cream or sauce? Pair the wine to the sauce, not the protein. A bitter sauce with a bitter wine is a bad evening.
Finally, take note of the adjectives. If a wine is described as sweet, it will generally work with food described the same way. Think fruity desserts with sweet wine. It isn't infallible, but it holds most of the time.
Pairing Methods
However much you experiment, it all falls under two methods: complementary and congruent.
Complementary
Complementary pairings don't share compounds. They contrast, and the contrast creates balance. Whites and rosés are good at this. Spicy dishes get mellowed by a white with a touch of sweetness, and the same works with salty food, where salt cuts the sweetness of the wine and leaves the fruit behind. Next time you're eating something fried, try Alexandria Premium Cuvée White.
Congruent
Congruent pairings share compounds or flavours. If you're eating something buttery, a wine with a buttery finish will amplify it. Just make sure the dish doesn't overpower the wine. The two should work alongside each other, not compete.
Understanding Food Flavour Profiles
Salt
Salt is everywhere in cooking, and it can lift the flavour of a wine. Whites and sparkling wines work best here. High acidity balances salty food, so make that the go-to.
Spice
Spicy food works both ways. Heat sharpens the bitterness and acidity in wine while cutting through its sweetness and body. A Riesling with some residual sugar handles chilli well.
Sweet
Sweet wine goes with sweet food, but the wine needs to be sweeter than the dessert. If it isn't, the dish flattens it. Sugar also brings out bitterness in wine, which is why high-tannin reds and puddings rarely work.
Acid
Acid is in both food and wine, so you can go either way. The wine's acidity should be at least as high as the dish's, ideally higher. Salad dressings are acidic, so a Sauvignon Blanc or something similarly sharp is the answer.
Fat
Fat isn't found in wine, so this is complementary only. Look for reds with real tannin, which softens the fat and lifts the flavour. Barovo Red against something charred and fatty off a grill is the version of this we'd recommend.
Food and wine pairing can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, so experiment freely. Just go with the flavours you actually like.
The full range lists the grapes and style for each bottle, which makes matching it to a dish considerably easier.