When I was younger and first learnt to appreciate the taste of wine, I started ordering them with my meal, I remember loving the first few sips and then once I tried it again with food – it felt so damn siap on my tongue and I couldn’t taste the initial fruity or floral scent.
Then I figured how important of a role food in pairing with the wine.
Red, Whites, Bubbly. Dessert. Spicy, fruity, floral, mineral-y, sugar sweet. Don’t fret, let’s take it one at a time.
Reds
Pairing red wines with food largely base on the tannins and acidity of the wine. The higher the acidity, the greater the variety of foods the wine can pair with because its zesty quality won’t be drowned out by rich or cream based sauces. Lower tannin wines mean lesser need for a high-fat dish - a natural absorber of tannin. Meaning you can pair lower tannin wines with more lower-fat content foods (Aka your Christmas Turkey pairing).
Light body wines such as Pinot noir and Beaujolais are perfect for lighter and earthier tasting foods. Mostly mushrooms and baked fish but you can also pair with roast duck and even red meats! Just watch out on the dressing, too rich or creamy can overwhelm the wine. Bordeaux, Shiraz and Montelpulciano are your Medium to Full body wines best suited for that T-bone steak you’ve been eyeing to get. Usually medium to high acidity and medium tannins.
Whites
Whites are largely depend on acidity, fruitiness, sweetness or dryness of the wine and yes - bodies.
We love our summer whites for weekend brunches such as your Sauvignon blanc and non-oaked Chardonnay. Leaning towards dry and higher acidic, these options are well paired with sushi, Vietnamese food, or your nuttier cheese. Medium-Full bodied whites such as oaked Chardonnay has a buttery and vanilla or even coconut finish. This allows richer and fattier food pairing matches such as veal chops or pumpkin Ravioli and even foie gras! Unfortunately chardonnays just don’t go too well with Asian food (spices and all)
Sweet wines
Sweeter whites such as Gewürztraminer or Riesling can be paired with a wide range of meats and cuisines. Ranging from Thai food to Greek and even Indian food! On the end of the sweet meter, ice wines pairs better with fruit based desserts. Sugar content in ice wine runs from 180 to 320g/l of sugar!
