Pairing food and wine isn’t as simple as it used to be.  In the past, you paired red wine with meat and pasta, white wine with poultry and seafood.  Given the variety of ethnic foods that are readily available, the numerous cooking styles and food combinations, as well as the availability of wines from around the world, this rule no longer applies. 

We want you to think about food and wine differently.  Wine will taste different when drunk alone, as opposed to when drunk with food.  Just as a spice interacts with food, so does wine.  A good match of food and wine will enhance the taste of both the food and wine, and often times result in a fantastic dining experience.

Here are eight guidelines to remember when pairing food and wine.

1. There are no rules to pairing food and wine, only guidelines.

2. Balance the weight of the food and wine, one should not over power the other.  A hearty wine like a Syrah will over power a delicate dish such as chicken with mushrooms.  However, a lighter style of red wine like Pinot Noir (Burgundy if you’re buying French) would be a great choice as the earthy characteristics will compliment the mushrooms.  Take the flip side of this, a creamy Alfredo sauce will over power a lighter Pinot Grigio, however a full-bodied, aged in oak Chardonnay, which is often described as buttery would make a great match.

Note: these wine and food pairing suggestions are based off the characteristics of both the food and wine.  They do not follow the old rule of red wine with meat and pasta, white wine with poultry and seafood.

3. Match geographic location.  Food and wine from the same region often times share the same characteristics.  Wine and beef will have similar characteristics if the grapes are grown in the same ground and soil type as the grass the cow ate.  There is an old saying that sums this up, “What grows together, goes together”.

4. When choosing a wine, consider the strongest component of the food dish first, and then consider the base ingredients.  In other words, if you are serving lemon chicken, focus on pairing a wine with the lemon first, then pairing the wine to the chicken.

5. Foods high in protein help offset highly tannic wines.

6. When serving multiple bottles of wine serve:
   1. Dry wine before sweet wine (the same reason desserts are sweet and served last).
   2. Light wine before heavy wine (a light wine will often times seem tasteless if served after a heavy wine).

7. Opposites attract (sometimes).  This is a much more difficult way of pairing food and wine.  For example, Asian food typically goes well with Riesling or Gewürztraminer, however don’t be afraid to try it with a Pinot Noir or Chardonnay.  You never know what will make your taste buds sing and dance.

8. Above we mentioned there were no rules to pairing food and wine, we lied, this is our only rule: follow your tastes and have fun!

Let’s take a minute to talk about ambiance and its influence on your wine enjoyment.  Have you ever had a bottle of wine with friends, or at a winery and thought it was so good you bought a bottle to drink at home, only to think it wasn’t very good and wonder why you liked it so much when you bought it?  The answer is the ambiance.  Wine Addict and I once drank a very expensive Brunello di Montalcino with a pizza, sitting in a hotel room in jeans and a t-shirt, drinking out of plastic cups.  It was one of the best wine experiences either of us ever had.  You see, wine is more than a drink; it’s an experience each and every time.