Food and wine pairing is about finding what you enjoy. Forget the rules and get tips to explore flavors you love. Wine tastes best when it fits your taste.

“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized”

André Simon

“White wine for fish and seafood, red wine for red meats.” You’ve probably heard that one before. How about “what grows together goes together?” You might be familiar with these so-called rules for proper food and wine pairing. But are they really that strict? I’ll dive in with my take on why food and wine pairing is about personal taste more than any hard-and-fast policies.

The Rules of Food and Wine Pairing

First, let’s get this out of the way. White wine doesn’t pair better with fish and seafood, and red wine does not pair best with red meats. Some do, sure, but I dislike that generalization. There are better ways to think about food and wine pairings.

What about “what grows together goes together? What does it even mean? In food, it means that the ingredients that grow nearby and in the same season tend to pair well when combined in a dish—think strawberries and rhubarb. When talking about wine and food pairings, it means that local dishes are likely to go well with local wines, especially in the Old World.

In Tuscany they make a ragu with wild boar to go with pasta. This pici al ragu di cinghiale pairs great with wine from Chianti[i]. If you’re visiting a wine region, do try the local food! However, if you have a bottle of Rioja[ii], don’t stress finding out what they eat there to get a perfect pairing.

Let me give you the skinny: There are no rules, only guidelines, and you don’t even have to follow those! So, with this new-found freedom in mind, why don’t we look at some of them. They may just elevate your next meal!

All right then, let’s try this again:

The Rules Guidelines of Food and Wine Pairing

There! Better. Now we can begin. I can’t tell you that you will enjoy pairing food and wine if you follow the guidelines I will talk about in a bit. What I can tell you is that when you put wine and food in your mouth at the same time, the flavors of both will be changed. Whether you like those changes or not is personal to you. Only you can judge if you like something.

For most people some of these guidelines will prove useful. How about we check them out:

Pairing by contrast

Pairing contrasting flavors can balance your food’s mouthfeel and taste. Acidity, for example, is excellent at offsetting rich, fatty foods. Ever noticed how a squeeze of lemon brightens up a rich fish dish? Similarly, an acidic wine like Champagne or a crisp Sauvignon Blanc can balance the richness of fatty grub. Picture a plate of French fries paired with your favorite bubbly wine: the acidity from the wine contrasts with the salty, fatty fries, balancing the flavors and refreshing your palate with each sip.

Pairing by complementary flavors

Complementary flavors work together harmoniously. A peppery Syrah, for instance, pairs beautifully with steak crusted in black pepper. The spice in the wine echoes the pepper on the steak, bringing out savory flavors in both. Or, if you smell peach in a Sauvignon Blanc, try it with a grilled peach salad—the flavors enhance each other without competing for the main role.

A few More Food and Wine Pairing Guidelines

• Sweetness: When it comes to dessert, your wine should be at least as sweet as the dish. In Tuscany they dip cantucci[iii] in Vin Santo, a sweet wine made with white grapes.
• Weight Matching: Think about the body of the wine and the weight of the food. Light wines pair best with delicate dishes like poached fish, while a bold Argentinian Malbec suits heavier fare, like a juicy ribeye.
• Bitterness: Tannic (bitter) wines often clash with bitter foods. Avoid pairing bitter greens with very tannic wines like young Cabernet Sauvignon. For some of you, the exception will be pairing tannic wines with dark chocolate.
• Spicy Foods: Spicy dishes mellow out when paired with sweet wines. For instance, a sweet Riesling can soothe the heat in a spicy curry. Just remember, the spicier the food, the sweeter the wine needs be.

Don’t forget, these are only guidelines, so feel free to ingnore them. Ultimately, wine and food pairing is about experimenting with what you love.

The Last Drop

For me, the best pairings create what I call a rollercoaster effect in my mouth. Not only both food and wine are enhanced with each other, but distinct sensations hit at different times, and some flavors come and go from bite to bite and sip to sip. I love that feeling!

Still, my advice is to relax about wine pairing. Wine pairs best with moments: moments with people, with travels, with emotions. Food is part of it, but not the main event. In my experience, your friends will savor the moment more than the food and wine match. Don’t stop yourself from opening that special bottle you’ve been saving just because it might not go well with the grub available. Stop worrying and learn to enjoy whatever wine and food you have!

What’s your favorite food and wine pairing? Does it stick to the guidelines above or does it break all the rules? Remember, what you like is subjective, so if you’re looking to improve your wine pairing game, don’t be afraid to get creative!

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Footnotes

[i] Chianti is the region in Tuscany that more or less lies in between Siena and Florence.

[ii] Located in north-central Spain, Rioja mostly makes bold reds with a blend that has Tempranillo as a foundational grape.

[iii] Cantucci, or cantuccini, is the Italian name for what we would call biscotti. In Italy, biscotti is the general term for all cookies.

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Cover Image: That Malbec and that beef empanada were a great food and wine pairing. But you know what else was a phenomenal pairing with that wine? Enjoying time with my family during a visit to Mendoza. Photo by me.