3 tips to become a wine pairing expert
26 Sep 2018
For centuries, pairing wine and food has been a natural activity; discovering the textures of flavors and learning how to combine them has become an art. While we believe that in gastronomy it's important to experiment and try daring options, we also believe that there are time-tested combinations that are simply made for each other.
Here are some tips to help you choose which foods pair best with your favorite wine and surprise your guests with a perfect pairing.
1) Balance between sweet and salty
The saltier the dish, the less perceptible the wine's acidity is; while a sweet dish enhances the wine's acidity. In general, sweet flavors don't pair well with dry wines, so it's best to pair a sweet wine with sweet dishes. Just remember that the wine should always be slightly sweeter than the food it's pairing with.
2) The goal is to enhance the flavors
When we talk about pairing, we aim to enhance the combination of flavors between the food and the wine and prevent one flavor from dominating the other. That's why we recommend avoiding light meals with strong wines, instead seeking, through trial and error, an appropriate balance of flavors that indulge the palate and create a kind of dance without either one overpowering the other. Always strive for balance; pair strongly flavored or highly seasoned foods with strong wines; and light meals with light wines.
3) Take into account the origin
If you're serving a cheese platter and want to pair it with wine, the best thing we can recommend is to do your research and consider the origin of both; that's a good starting point. Both products are of natural origin; therefore, it's not surprising that both the land where the grapes grew and the grass that fed the cattle to obtain the milk used to make the cheese have similar characteristics and flavors. Of course, industrialized production processes affect and modify some of these characteristics, but pairing a wine and a cheese from the same region is still a safe combination.
Now all you have to do is try it out: choose a favorite wine and think about how to pair it, or vice versa. Think of a recipe you'd like to make, analyze its ingredients and flavors, and dare to find the perfect wine. Enjoy!
*with information from:
Source 1
Source 2
Here are some tips to help you choose which foods pair best with your favorite wine and surprise your guests with a perfect pairing.
1) Balance between sweet and salty
The saltier the dish, the less perceptible the wine's acidity is; while a sweet dish enhances the wine's acidity. In general, sweet flavors don't pair well with dry wines, so it's best to pair a sweet wine with sweet dishes. Just remember that the wine should always be slightly sweeter than the food it's pairing with.2) The goal is to enhance the flavors
When we talk about pairing, we aim to enhance the combination of flavors between the food and the wine and prevent one flavor from dominating the other. That's why we recommend avoiding light meals with strong wines, instead seeking, through trial and error, an appropriate balance of flavors that indulge the palate and create a kind of dance without either one overpowering the other. Always strive for balance; pair strongly flavored or highly seasoned foods with strong wines; and light meals with light wines.3) Take into account the origin
If you're serving a cheese platter and want to pair it with wine, the best thing we can recommend is to do your research and consider the origin of both; that's a good starting point. Both products are of natural origin; therefore, it's not surprising that both the land where the grapes grew and the grass that fed the cattle to obtain the milk used to make the cheese have similar characteristics and flavors. Of course, industrialized production processes affect and modify some of these characteristics, but pairing a wine and a cheese from the same region is still a safe combination.Now all you have to do is try it out: choose a favorite wine and think about how to pair it, or vice versa. Think of a recipe you'd like to make, analyze its ingredients and flavors, and dare to find the perfect wine. Enjoy!
*with information from:
Source 1
Source 2