Wine Pairing Guide

At some point or another we have all been here, trying to choose wine. We’re sitting in the restaurant, looking at the list of wines wondering which is the right one for our food. Sometimes you can really run into trouble either because you are not familiar the wines that are being offered at the certain restaurant or even worse; you may not be educated on any wines at all!

And the situation can be even worse, you may have a date with you with this happening to you (oh you’ve been there? Sorry!) Then you need to keep reading this article, it could keep you from being in these awkward situations, and put you in charge the next time you have to order wine.

If you’re the experimental type, we recommend joining a wine of the month club so you can experimenting with wine pairings from the comfort of your own home. 

All of us have heard the old thing of white wine for white meat or sauces and seafood, and red wine for red meat and sauces. This is somewhat true, but there is further information you can use when pairing wine with your desired foods.

Cote Du Rhone is an example of a red that goes well with seafood, the Mourvedre, Grenache, and Syrah grapes offer a pleasant level of smoky, mineral flavor which brings out the best in several fish dishes as good as the Sauvignon Blanc. Wines that are made with the Gamay grapes can be a good fit with not only seafood but also duck and some turkey dishes.

Conversely, there are whites which are excellent with tomato-laden dishes. One example is again Sauvignon Blanc (OK, you may not want to drink it with your spaghetti marinara, but it is excellent IN marinara sauce! Something to remember when cooking at home). Speaking of this wine, it is an easy pairing for many foods – think lemon and cream here. Anything which would go well with lemon (poultry, salads, seafood) works well with this wine. It also provides a good contrast to heavier, creamy sauces.

One of the rules of pairing wines with foods is to consider the flavors in the food itself. Suppose that you’ll be having barbecue (wine with barbecue? Really?). You want a red here, one which has both enough acidity and/or enough body to not be drowned out by the strong flavors of the sauce. A cabernet is just a little too soft for this, although it is certainly done. A better choice, however would be something more assertive such as an Italian Barbera (with its relatively high acidity) or a Valpolicella (which has the body to stand up to any BBQ). Another good and popular choice for this meal would be a red Zinfandel, which has pepper and black cherry flavors which are excellent paired with grilled meats.

So how about whites? Again, we’ll go with the grill, given that grilled foods are a perennial restaurant option (and spring is right around the corner). Some good white wine pairings are a crisp, dry white such as a Semillon or a Pinot Grigio with grilled vegetables, salads and even fruit (melon is an especially good pairing with these two whites). These are also good with a variety of cheeses ranging from mild Gouda and Havarti to strong blues.

There is a lot more information to know about the pairing of wine with your food, but the info covered here should get you started as far as being able to do some experimenting on your own and seeing which you like. It is definitely delicious research to do and you will not mind tasting the different pairings.  One easy way to start experimenting, join a wine club. Enjoy!