Wine Pairing Tips

First and foremost, your own personal taste is far more important than what a web site or expert might recommend. You should drink the wine you like with the food you like. That said a well-paired wine and meal can take the dining experience to another level. 

The following are some approaches to help you start pairing food and wines--keeping in mind there are always exceptions to rules.

One approach is to think of things on continuum of weight, texture and intensity: light to heavy, mild to bold or spicy, appetizer to dessert, young to old. Wines, dishes and entire meals exist along this continuum; your wine and food should have the same characteristics. Light foods with light wines, bold foods with bolder wines. In a meal, appetizers served first with sweet heavy desserts at the end--white wines are typically not aged (or young) are served with appetizers and sweet aged ports are served with dessert. The old rule of serving white wines with poultry and fish no longer applies—a Spicy Chicken Paella could be better paired with a young red wine instead of a Chenin Blanc. 

Another approach is to think of how things taste—sweet, salt, sour, bitter and/or savory. Salty and sour tastes in food will give wine a more mild taste where sweet and savory will bring out a stronger taste in the wine. Those new to wine might enjoy their meal more if the wine they are drinking doesn't overpower their taste buds; where wine connoisseurs might enjoy a meal that intensifies the flavors of the wine.

Other ideas include:

• Match the flavors and aromas of the wines with the flavors in the meal. For example, a Pepper-Encrusted filet might go well with a "Peppery" Zinfandel--Use the descriptions of the wines to help plan the flavors of the meal. 

• Match regional wines with regional dishes. Serve Shrimp-on-the-Barbie with an Australian wine; pizza with an Italian Sangiovese. 

• Counterbalance an intensely flavored spicy dish with light fruity white. The above guidelines would suggest a full-bodied red with a spicy meal; however a light wine might mellow the flavor assault on the pallet.