Matching Likes to Likes
The following principles won't tell you exactly what to order on your next night out, but they'll help you understand why some foods and some wines make compatible partners. The principles are based on the four tastes that the tongue can discern — sweet, sour, salty, and bitter — and the idea is to match similar tastes in both the food and the wine.
A Sour Taste in Your Mouth
Foods that have a sour component are good matches for wines that are high in acid. A salad with a vinaigrette dressing and a fish fillet squirted with lemon both cry out for a high-acid wine. Acid is the bridge connecting the wine and the food.
Compare the sensation of squeezing some lemon juice onto your tongue with that of sipping a Sauvignon Blanc. Your mouth will pucker. That's the acidity. (Notice here that you're not matching the wine to the fish fillet itself or to the lettuce in the salad. You're taking into consideration the preparation.) Tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and green apples are examples of other high-acid foods.
Acidity is much more important in the taste and structure of white wines than red wines. Red wines do have acidity, although in many of them the bitterness of tannins influences your perception of that acidity. White wines have minimal tannins, so acidity plays a greater role.
Potential high-acid wine partners include Sauvignon Blanc and the northern French whites of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Vouvray, and Chablis. The wines of Alsace and Germany generally have high acidity. The acids in reds are often masked by the tannins, but safe bets are Italian reds. (Why do you think Italian wines go so perfectly with tomato-based pasta sauces?) The following whites are listed from low acid levels to high acid levels:
Gewürztraminer (low)
California Chardonnay (low to medium)
Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio (medium)
Champagne (medium to high)
Chablis (high)
Chenin Blanc (high)
Sancerre/Sauvignon Blanc (high)
German Riesling (high)
Sweet Thing
The sweeter the food, the less sweet and more dull a wine will taste. If you pair a slice of roast pork with a glass of off-dry Chenin Blanc, the sweetness of the wine will be obvious. Top your pork with a heaping spoonful of pineapple glaze and your glass of wine will taste positively dry.
When you get to dessert, the rule of thumb is to drink a wine that's sweeter than your food. Even a moderately sweet wine can taste thin, unpleasantly dry, and even sour when you pair it with a sugar blockbuster. Some suggested pairings:
Pear tart and Sauternes
New York cheesecake and Muscat
Bread pudding and late harvest Riesling
Tiramisu and Port
Dark chocolate mousse and Banyuls
Is there a way to tell how sweet or dry a wine is before you buy it?
Look at the size of the bottle. Most dry wines are packaged in 750 ml bottles. Historically, dessert wines come in 375 ml half-bottles.
Don't Be Bitter
Bitterness in wine is caused by tannins, compounds that enter the wine from the skins of the grape submerged in the fermentation tank with the grape juice. Oak barrels also impart tannins, but skins are the main source. Tannins only apply to red wines.
When you eat food with a hint of bitterness (olives, bok choy, or sauerkraut) and drink a wine with some bitterness, the bitterness and accompanying astringency is magnified. So be careful pairing Cabernet Sauvignon with German food! The following red wines are listed from low to high tannin levels:
Beaujolais (low)
Pinot Noir (low)
Sangiovese (medium)
Merlot (medium)
Zinfandel (medium to high)
Syrah/Shiraz (high)
Cabernet Sauvignon (high)
Salt of the Earth
There are no salty wines, but there are plenty of salty foods: ham, smoked salmon, oysters, and teriyaki beef. The best way to cut salt is with high-acid wines. The salt in the food can also minimize the tartness of the wine and amplify the fruit.
