More Than Taste
Once you understand how the taste of food and the taste of wine influence each other, the next piece to consider is how weight or body affects food and wine match. Wine, like food, has power. Compare a Champagne Brut with a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The latter has more muscle. The Champagne would never hold up to a fiery French pepper steak the way the Cabernet would.
Alcohol is one of the contributors to a wine's sense of body and weight. The higher the alcohol, the greater the body or heavier the weight. So, even before tasting the wine, you can gauge its body by its alcohol content. A fuller-bodied wine will generally have more than 13 percent alcohol. Lighter-bodied wines typically are under 13 percent alcohol.
Cutting the Fat
A common impression is that tannic wines will “cut the fat.” This is true, but not in the sense that it cuts the fat content of your ten-ounce filet mignon. Tannins are attracted to fatty proteins. As you chew your steak, your mouth is left with a coating of those fatty proteins.
When you sip your glass of Cabernet, the tannin molecules attach themselves to the protein molecules — taking them along for the ride when you swallow. Not only is the Cabernet well matched in terms of weight, the ability of the steak to rob the wine of its tannins really brings out the rich, dark fruit of the wine.
It's not foolproof, but one way to estimate a wine's tannin level is by its color. The lighter it is, the less tannin the wine is likely to have. It stands to reason: The longer the skins stay in contact with the clear grape juice during fermentation, the more color and tannins they impart.
Spice Up Your Life!
When you walk on the fiery side with dishes from Thailand, Mexico or India, choosing a wine can be tough. Your usual dry favorites somehow make the exciting heat of the food downright painful. Tannins and alcohol are to blame. However, this does not mean you have to put wine aside altogether and reach for a glass of milk.
A sweeter, lower-alcohol wine is a much more soothing match for spicy foods. Try an off-dry Riesling or Gewürztraminer. If you only like red wine, Pinot Noir and Beaujolais are definite candidates, with their lower alcohol and tannin levels.
