Have fun and experiment when learning to pair wine and food

February 21, 2007 12:50 am

PAIRING WINE and food seems to be a confounding element of wine appreciation for many people. What would seem to be a natural fit can give even the most adventurous palates anxiety .

It certainly doesn't have to be this way. With a few basic guidelines and a little experimentation, you will be able to pair meals with ease.

People may be surprised to hear this, but flavor is not the top factor I use in pairing wine and food. The first criterion I consider to be important is acidity.

Think of squeezing a lemon over your food. The lemon imparts flavor, of course, but it's the acidic kick that brings out the flavors in the food and provides a balance to the fat and starch. Wine does the same thing.

Acid is present in white, red and rose wines, and it is important to pick a wine whose acidity has not been artificially reduced (or at least too much). How can you tell? The clues are often in the tasting notes, or hopefully your retailer can tell you.

If a white wine is described as creamy or soft, this could mean the winemaker has used a secondary fermentation, called malolactic, that artificially reduces the acidity. A wine like this can be pleasurable to sip on its own but will not make your dish sing.

Additionally, high-acid foods (like tomato sauces) need a wine with acidity to work. Think classic pairings like a Chianti with lasagna, or a sauvignon blanc with oysters.

Of course, marrying flavors is another important factor. A lemony Virginia seyval blanc can be the perfect foil to crab bisque. Another delicious pairing is an Argentinean malbec that shows dark fruit and coffee flavors paired with grilled tenderloin.

The trick is to figure out the underlying flavor elements of each food and decide whether they will work well together. Developing your palate as a whole is the best way to marry flavors, and the good news is that doing so is a joy unto itself. Go to wine tastings, sample new dishes, figure out what you like and what didn't work and build on it.

Pairing the wine to the protein in the dish used to be the prevailing wisdom on wine and food pairings. As our cuisine becomes more flavorful and adventurous with the introduction of spices and herbs such as cumin and cilantro, that theory is being edged out in favor of pairing to the dominant flavor in the dish.

A dry-rub grilled salmon versus one that is poached in a dill sauce is a great example. Most would assume white with fish always. However, a dry-rubbed grilled salmon is a fairly hearty dish that would work better with an earthy pinot noir (which is a red with great acidity), while the poached dill version might be better suited to a nutty white from Southern France.

An easy shortcut is to pick wines from regions famous for creating food-friendly wines. European wines still do this expertly, especially those from Germany, France and Italy.

These wines are produced by cultures that believe the food is the star of the show, and the wine should be the supporting cast.

While I love to sip a heady, fruit-bomb shiraz, it may not pair well with anything but a peppery steak. Unoaked Australian chardonnays and rieslings, Virginia cabernet francs and Russian River Valley pinot noirs tend to be fail-safe partners to a meal.

I have heard it said that food and wine are two sides of the same coin. This is a great way to describe how well these two work together, and why in so many cultures, one is never served without the other. So have fun and experiment, and you will be pairing with ease before you know it.

Rebecca Thomas Snyder is co-owner and wine buyer of kybecca wine & gourmet. She grew up overseas in a wine-loving family and lives in the city with her husband and three children. She can be reached at
Email: rebecca@kybecca.com.