{"id":15132,"date":"2015-02-25T12:29:10","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T17:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15132"},"modified":"2015-02-25T11:42:57","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T16:42:57","slug":"chief-cork-officer-food-and-wine-pairing-its-not-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15132","title":{"rendered":"Chief Cork Officer: food and wine pairing \u2013 it’s not magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actually, it’s science and your palate that determines best pairings<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Brian Gurnham<\/span>, <\/strong>Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"BgurnhamRevised\"<\/a>Scour the web and you can find hundreds of articles about pairing various types of food with their perfect mate from the wine world.\u00a0 The reality is that while there are a lot of guidelines based on science, it all comes down to personal preference.\u00a0 It\u2019s no different than the food world.\u00a0 My brother used to eat peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, I had an aunt that would always have cucumbers with vanilla ice cream, and who hasn\u2019t heard of such common food pairings as apple pie and cheddar cheese, pretzels and ice cream, and pizza and ranch dressing?<\/p>\n

Most people know the \u201cred with beef, white with chicken\u201d rule, but alas, there are no rights or wrongs per se.\u00a0 \u00a0Despite the individual nature of pairings, there are combinations that to most people, taste better.\u00a0 By \u201ctaste better\u201d we mean that the combination of the food with the wine enhances the flavors of both.\u00a0 The reasons for this lie in the physical and chemical attributes of food and wine.\u00a0 In this article we look at food and wine pairings based on five components \u2013 intensity, acidity, fattiness, saltiness, and sweetness, and provide some science based suggestions.<\/p>\n

Match Intensity<\/b> \u2013 Think of this as matching instruments in an orchestra.\u00a0 You don’t want your food playing \u201cfortissimo\u201d and your wine \u201cpianissimo\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Matching intensity in food wine pairings requires that the wine and food be in balance, with neither dominating.\u00a0 \u00a0If you are having a meal that most would consider \u201cheavy\u201d or \u201crich\u201d or \u201cfilling\u201d, then the best wines are usually of the same ilk.\u00a0 A beef bourguignon would completely overpower a light Sauvignon Blanc for example.\u00a0 Similarly if your menu includes a lightly breaded flounder fillet, opening a big bold Syrah with it, well, you might as well just skip the flounder.\u00a0 The better combination (again to most) would be the Syrah with the beef and the Sauvignon Blanc with the flounder.\u00a0 What makes this challenging, and fun, is that there are so many wines available today that you must go beyond simply red or white.\u00a0 Light reds with minimal tannins and lower alcohol are available to pair with fish.\u00a0 For example a light Pinot Noir can be an excellent accompaniment to a salmon dish.\u00a0 Conversely, big full bodied Chardonnays can work with rich white sauces such as a Fettuccini Alfredo Carbonara.\u00a0 Remember that when pairing food with a pronounced sauce, pair using the attributes of the sauce.\u00a0 Conversely, in the absence of sauce, pair to the main ingredient.<\/p>\n

Acidic Foods<\/b> \u2013 Acid is a common element in many foods and food condiments.\u00a0 Acids add a flavor enhancing crispness \u2013 think a splash of lemon on fresh fish.\u00a0 Many foods are naturally high in acids such as foods containing tomatoes, citrus, vinegar or green apples. \u00a0Wines that pair well with acidic foods contain equal or greater levels of acidity \u2013 a case of pairing like with like.\u00a0 One important thing to remember, make sure the perceived acidity of the wine is equal to or greater than the food.\u00a0 If you fail this test, you run the risk of the wine tasting flat by comparison.\u00a0 Some excellent pairings in this category include Barbera or Chianti with tomato based pasta, pesto pasta with Vermentino and Mussels Provencal and Sauvignon Blanc.<\/p>\n

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Consider your wine’s acid levels when pairing with foods like pizza.<\/p><\/div>\n

Fatty Foods<\/b> \u2013 If you are eating a relatively rich, \u201cfatty\u201d food dish (e.g. ribs, Au Gratin potatoes, or duck), the fats in the food tend to coat the tongue, masking the ability of those 9,000 taste buds to do their job.\u00a0 There are two ways to work with rich fatty food dishes.\u00a0 The first is to serve wines high in acidity (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc, Vernaccia, or Barbera).\u00a0 The high acidity cuts the fattiness producing a balanced sensation in the mouth.\u00a0 The second approach is to incorporate wines higher in tannins.\u00a0 The most famous of combinations here is a Cabernet Sauvignon based wine paired with a steak.\u00a0 Much like the acidity\/fat combination, the protein and fat in the meat offset the cotton mouth effect of the tannins \u2013 setting up a delightful battleground of flavors and sensations in the mouth.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"TofuStirFryHC1407_M_150_C_R\"<\/a>

Opposites can attract when it comes to win: a sweet German Riesling can do wonders for a savory, salty Asian dish.<\/p><\/div>\n

Salty Foods<\/b> \u2013 People salt their food to enhance its flavor.\u00a0 This enhancement is the result of salt making some chemical compounds more volatile, releasing the flavors in the mouth so that more smells reach our olfactory epithelium, and the food tastes are more pronounced.\u00a0 Wine contains no salt; however salt in food interacts with wine in several somewhat complex ways.\u00a0 First, acidity in wine reduces saltiness, and for this reason crisp whites and sparkling wines pair well with savory, spicy and somewhat salty dishes.\u00a0 Salt will tend to accentuate tannins making rich full bodied reds overly astringent \u2013 not a good idea.\u00a0 Lastly salt will also accentuate alcohol, potentially making a wine taste \u201chot\u201d \u2013 so avoiding wines high in alcohol by volume (i.e. greater than 13.5%) will help your pairings.\u00a0 Also remember that some people enjoy the rivalry between sweet and salt \u2013 remember the pretzels and ice cream?\u00a0 A sweet German Riesling can do wonders for a savory, salty Asian dish.<\/p>\n

Sweet Foods <\/b>\u2013 Sweet wines are frequently associated with sweet desserts.\u00a0 While this is a logical complement, it’s important to remember that the sweetness in the wine must be at a higher level than the sweetness in the food.\u00a0 If you serve a dry wine with a sweet dessert, the wine’s flavors will be masked by the sweetness of the food, and the wine will taste flat and unimpressive.\u00a0 One of my favorites?\u00a0 Apple cider French toast with a late harvest Riesling or Sauternes.<\/p>\n

All of this demonstrates what is by far the single most important rule of food and wine pairings \u2013 you can do whatever you like, as long as you enjoy the outcome.\u00a0 If you like a crisp Sauvignon Blanc with pizza, go for it.\u00a0 A big cabernet sauvignon with your flounder almondine \u2013 be my guest.\u00a0 Just know that any of these would make gastronomic oenophiles cringe \u2013 but then again so would peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches.\u00a0 My advice?\u00a0 Experiment within the established guidelines but then let your imagination run wild.\u00a0 You might be pleasantly surprised at what you discover.<\/p>\n

To have a little fun and test your food and wine pairing skills, try this quiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brian Gurnham is a Certified Specialist of Wine, owner of\u00a0Corkquiz.com<\/a>, teaches wine appreciation classes, and is a part time wine team member at Total Wine in Claymont, DE, \u00a0He has travelled to many of the world\u2019s most famous wine regions, most recently France\u2019s Loire Valley this past summer.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Actually, it’s science and your palate that determines best pairings By\u00a0Brian Gurnham, Columnist, The Times Scour the web and you can find hundreds of articles about pairing various types of food with their perfect mate from the wine world.\u00a0 The reality is that while there are a lot of guidelines based on science, it all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[4613,5905,306,5904],"class_list":["post-15132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-food","tag-meals","tag-wine","tag-wine-pairing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15132"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15133,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15132\/revisions\/15133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}