KEEPING IT SIMPLE
The three most important rules when it comes to wine-and-food pairing are:
Drink and eat what you like
Choose a wine that you would want to drink by itself, rather than hoping a food match will improve a wine made in a style you don’t like. That way, even if the pairing isn’t perfect, you will still enjoy what you’re drinking; at worst, you might need a sip of water or bite of bread between the dish and the glass. The same holds true for the food: After all, if you detest liver, there is no wine pairing on Earth that will make it work for you.
Look for balance
Consider the weight—or body, or richness—of both the food and the wine. The wine and the dish should be equal partners, with neither overwhelming the other. If you balance the two by weight, you raise the odds dramatically that the pairing will succeed. This is the secret behind many classic wine-and-food matches.
There’s a fair amount of instinct to this. Hearty food needs a hearty wine. Cabernet Sauvignon complements grilled lamb chops because they’re equally vigorous; the dish would run roughshod over a crisp white wine. In contrast, a light Soave washes down a subtly flavored poached fish because they are equals in delicacy.
How do you determine weight? For the food, fat—including what comes from the cooking method and the sauce—is the main contributor. (Note how a salad with blue cheese dressing feels heavier than one with citrus vinaigrette, as does fried chicken versus poached.)
For a wine, you can get clues from the color, grape variety and alcohol level, along with the winemaking techniques and the region’s climate. (Wines with less than 12 percent alcohol tend to be lighter-bodied; those with more than 14 percent are heavier.) If you’re not familiar with a wine, consult our lists below.
Match the wine to the most prominent element in the dish
This is critical to fine-tuning wine pairings. Identify the dominant character in the dish; often it’s the sauce, seasonings or cooking method, rather than the main ingredient. Consider two different chicken dishes: Chicken Marsala, with its browned surface and a sauce of dark wine and mushrooms, versus a chicken breast poached in a creamy lemon sauce. The caramelized, earthy flavors of the former tilt it toward a soft, supple red, while the simplicity and citrus flavors of the latter call for a fresh white.
