Wine Art in France

Clubbing the right food with the right wine is indeed an art in itself. And there are very few who know the nuances of this art.  While pairing the right food with the right wine makes every morsel all the more delectable, the wrong pairing could spoil the feel of the entire meal. Thus, it is important that you put the right things together.

Going by the rule of the thumb, one should pair red meat with red wine and white meat with white wine. However, this is no hard and fast rule. Food and wine pairing is something that is to each his own. It all depends upon personal tastes and likings. At times a contrast pairing and on other occasions as similar pairing can work well.

The first thing that you need to consider while pairing wine with food is the kind of meal that you plan to serve. Are you serving a full-fledged and a heavy meal? Or are you going to opt for something light? Ideally heavy food goes down well with full bodied wine. If you are cooking something like a beef stew then opt for a full bodied wine like a burgundy.

However, if you have something relatively light on the platter such as stir fried beef or a chicken, you could pair it with something light as a delicate Chardonnay. The reason behind the same is that with heavy food you will not be able to enjoy the delicacy of delicate wines. Full bodied wines on the other hand tickle the tongue even with heavy food.

But how do you know whether a wine is full bodied or light? The alcohol content could serve as a good measure of this. Ideally 13.5% is taken as the starting point. If the wine has alcohol content greater than this, then it would be considered as full bodied or vice versa.

The flavor of the food is another thing that one must keep in mind when pairing wine with food. Always go in for something that complements the flavor of the food. The taste of the wine should be neither be too similar to that of the food nor too different. There should be a contrast but decent enough.

However, many people are of the view that the food and wine should be of similar nature. For instance, a dry, crisp white wine best complements acidic food like fish cooked in lemon sauce. As I said its about personal tastes and individual preferences. But make sure that the taste of the food and wine ae not similar to get lost into each other.

To sum it all up, there is essentially no hard and fast rule in wine pairing. Its basically a hit and trial method. Keep on trying and figure out what works best for you.