When I was 19, I moved from my home in New York City to Nice, France for what became an extended five-year stay. Soon after arriving in Europe, I found myself eating lunch at the Nice University cafeteria where two francs (about 50 cents at the time) could buy a hungry young man a three-course meal. An extra franc purchased a split of red or white wine. (Now that’s what I call a school lunch!) My dining epiphany came within just a few minutes. It seems so obvious now. But I had to travel to France to figure out that a good meal tastes better with a good wine!
Of course the French and their neighbors have been eating and drinking well for some time. And many Americans have seen the light, too. But we, as a nation, are still struggling with the concept of food and wine pairing. Most folks just want to know if a wine’s any good or not. It’s a fair question to ask, but knowing the answer won’t necessarily enhance your dinner.
The right wine—and there are many “right” wines for any meal—should highlight whatever it is we are eating. Wine should make our food taste really good; and whatever we’re eating should make our wine taste equally enticing. It’s that simple. If we’re drinking a really delicious glass of whatever, and someone offers us a dish that diminishes our enjoyment of the wine—then we’ve still got a good wine. But we’ve got a bad match.
We’re not talking rocket science (although I suppose on a chemical level it can get fairly complex). More simply, the key to a successful food and wine pairing can be described in one word: style. It’s not about flavor; it’s not about wine varietals; it’s not about color (as in red, white or rosé); and it’s not about wine regions like Burgundy or Napa Valley. What determines the perfect match—or at least a reasonably good match—is the style of the wine in question and the style of food consumed.
A wine’s style is pretty much defined by body, acidity and texture. Is the wine full-bodied or light-bodied? Is it bright and fresh (which implies lighter body and higher acid) or lush and rich (read: full-bodied with lower acidity)? Is it silky-smooth or a bit coarse or tannic? (That’s texture.) Similar descriptors can apply to what we eat as well.
If you can identify the style of what’s in your glass and what’s on your plate, you can improve the odds for a good pairing. For example, a wine may taste like pears or peaches, but that doesn’t help us determine whether it will go well with Dover sole in a butter sauce. But if we know a wine is light-bodied, fresh and bright, then we have a pretty good hunch it might pair nicely with the delicate fish fillet and provide balance to the butter. That could mean a German riesling, a white Burgundy, or an Oregon pinot blanc for instance. The peach or pear flavors can be savored too. But they don’t necessarily define pairing potential here.
Food and wine matches can be described as complementary or contrasting. A rich, meaty steak will probably taste best when paired with some kind of full-bodied, richly textured wine to stand up to it. That’s complementary. A contrasting pairing would be champagne with oysters. These briny, rich bivalves need something bright to lighten them up and tone down the saltiness. A squirt of lemon juice can do the trick, but I really like what a fresh, high-acid glass of bubbly can add to the mix.
To be honest, lots of great pairings are blends of both complementary and contrasting notes. There are no rules here—just guidelines. And thank goodness surprises abound. Otherwise mealtime could get really boring. In future articles, I plan to talk about great food and wine matches and, for comparison, some pairings that are less than great.
Meanwhile, the next time a sommelier says to you, “Try the chardonnay with your crab cakes, or the Rhône red with your roast chicken,” you might ask for a few more details. Pairing food and wine can be so much more fun and interesting.
****************************************************************************************************************************
Author and winemaker Jeff Morgan’s articles on food and wine have appeared in numerous major publications. He lives in Napa Valley, where he makes Covenant Wines and also writes cookbooks.
Leave a Reply