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What should I bear in mind when combining wine and food?
"A good wine, poured with several dishes, is like a good actor who reveals new facets of himself under changing direction." This quote from sommelier and wine author Sebastian Bordthäuser vividly describes the possibilities and the effect of a successful wine accompaniment to a meal. Food and wine both make their contribution to the culinary combination and both gain by being able to reveal new, enriching nuances of flavour when they interact with each other.
When combining food and matching (corresponding) wines, the aim is to create a harmonious and lasting culinary experience. You can either focus on harmony (matching or complementing) or on tension. Incidentally, this is also the approach taken in cooking when playing with flavours, textures and temperatures in individual dishes.
Basics
Three factors are important when choosing a wine:
- the way the food is prepared,
- the richness and flavour of the dish and
- the flavour characteristics and intensity of the dish.
Two examples may illustrate the first point in particular (on which the last point also depends): A tomato tastes rather sour when raw, but sweet when cooked, and veal tastes different when grilled (steak) than when fried (schnitzel) and than when boiled (boiled beef).
Wine and food should be equal partners: The wine must harmonise in taste with the dish and should emphasise the flavours of the food, but not overpower them.
The Colour the colour of the wine is not the primary deciding factor in the selection: it is also possible to combine white wine with dark meat and red wine with fish. The traditional rule of "light-coloured wine with light meat (and fish), dark wine with dark meat (and fish)" still applies, as it has lost none of its meaning; red wines are generally stronger and more tart than white wines, simply due to their higher tannin content. However, some white wines matured in wooden barrels(Pinot Gris, Chardonnay) can have more substance and body than a fruity red wine matured in stainless steel tanks(Trollinger, Portugieser, Pinot Noir).
In the course of a menu, both the wine and the food sequence should experience an increase in aroma and flavour intensity as well as in richness and fullness. As it is very difficult to return to lighter flavours after dishes and/or wines with intense flavours, the strength of the flavours is gradually increased - because the strong flavours are demanding on the tongue and often remain at least rudimentary (blocking the taste receptors, so to speak), so that they can overlay or distort the weaker (and also subtler) ones. Since white wines are generally lighter or less powerful than red wines (which, as already mentioned, is also related to the tannin content of the latter), it is common to go from white to red. However, both bouquet grape varieties(Muscat, Traminer, etc.) and certain production and ageing methods (wooden barrel, mash fermentation) produce white wines with a pronounced aroma, which can dominate the flavour of light red wines in particular (from grape varieties such as Trollinger and aged in steel tanks).
Sensory interactions
When it comes to flavour, the aim is to achieve harmony between food and wine; opposites must dissolve or be in a relationship of tension that is perceived as pleasant. This means that the sensory characteristics of food and wine must be harmonised in such a way that they complement each other in a meaningful way. Positive reinforcements are desirable, while negative reinforcements should be avoided. The flavours of food and wine should be similar (e.g. a red wine with dried fruit and cocoa notes with a game dish with a sauce made with prunes and dark chocolate, or a white wine with vegetal notes with a vegetable dish) or enrich each other (as in the culinary creation salted caramel).
The majority of flavours are perceived through the nose. The detailed flavour characteristics are registered retronasally, i.e. when the air rises from the oral cavity via the pharynx into the nose - smelling as you exhale, so to speak. The tongue only registers the flavours sweet, sour, salty and bitter as well as umami (savoury, positively flavour-enhancing) and fatty (scientifically: oleogustus).
The following interactions between wine and food must be taken into account:
- Sweetness in wine enhances the flavours of the food and weakens acidity, pungency and bitterness in the dish.
- Acidity in wine emphasises the pungency and spiciness of the dish, strengthens the acidity and can weaken the sweetness of the dish. It also makes fat easier to digest.
- A high alcohol content in the wine emphasises both the sweetness and the spiciness of the dish. It can reduce sharpness and makes fat easier to digest. A low alcohol content makes the acidity of the dish more pronounced.
- Salt intensifies the flavours and bitter substances as well as the sweetness - both in the food and in the wine.
- Bitter substances in the wine (in the form of tannins) reduce the sweetness in the dish and help with fat digestion.
- Roasted substances (whether in the food due to spicy frying or in the wine due to ageing in wooden barrels) harmonise the sweetness and moderate the acidity.
- Carbon dioxide (in semi-sparkling or sparkling wine) dampens the sweetness of the food; at the same time, sparkling wines often appear sweeter than they actually are when paired with food.
In summary, the following relationships exist between individual flavours (whereby umami and fat are deliberately neglected here, as they are virtually non-existent in wine):
|
sweet |
sour |
salty |
bitter |
---|---|---|---|---|
sweet |
neutralising |
complementary |
reinforcing |
complementary |
acidic |
supplementing |
reinforcing |
neutralising |
complementary |
salty |
reinforcing |
neutralising |
reinforcing |
fortifying |
bitter |
complementary |
complementary |
reinforcing |
reinforcing |
The following recommendations can therefore be made for the combination of food and wine:
Food |
Wine |
---|---|
savoury |
acidic, rather dry |
savoury |
flavoursome, low acidity, light |
sharp |
flavoursome, low acidity, light, also residual sweetness |
accentuated acidity |
mineral, subtly sweet, rather full-bodied |
tart |
fruity, definitely sweet, rather low in acidity |
full-bodied |
full-bodied, full-bodied, acid and/or tannin-emphasised, also subtly residual sweet |
sweet |
fruit-orientated, residual/precious sweet |
Some foods generally prove to be difficult partners for wine:
- The intense acidity of vinaigrette (vinegar-oil marinade), lemons and raw tomatoes masks the finer acidity in most wines.
- In eggs, certain ingredients in the yolk can seal the taste buds of the tongue and make wines taste unpleasantly metallic under certain circumstances.
- Artichokes contain cynarin, which gives wine a distinctly sweeter or metallic flavour.
Tips for certain occasions
Social gatherings:
If wine is the centre of attention in this round, the usual rules (wine sequence etc., see above) should be observed when making your selection. If the participants can then contribute information or stories about the individual wines, success is assured.
Party:
Simpler wines are used here, but of good quality. In order to meet the tastes of as many guests as possible, a "mainstream" wine is recommended: harmonious and uncomplicated, without rough edges, balanced with enough juice and flavour, rather light. At a party, you don't want to savour it reverently, but need a wine that accompanies conversation and food in a versatile, unobtrusive and harmonious way.
Picnic:
A palatable, well-chilled rosé wine usually goes best with a picnic. The various, rather light summer dishes go very well with the freshness, fine fruit and delicate flavour of rosé.
Candlelight dinner:
If you know your partner's taste, the choice of wine is quite simple. If the wine is enjoyed without food, it should be aromatically intense and multi-layered so that the second glass does not become boring; the right mixture of fullness and finesse is what makes it so appealing. If the wine is served with food, the rules described above apply.
Festive menu:
The choice of wine for a festive menu is a real challenge. Both the sequence of dishes and the different preferences (or dislikes) of the guests must be taken into account. The logical "flavour sequence" of wine and food must be planned in such a way that the components increase in intensity and content.