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Instead of matching like with like, you could choose to cut, contrast or balance components against each other. For example, fat can be cut by either tannin or sugar – think cabernet paired with steak, or foie gras and Sauternes. Richness and body can be cut by acid – caviar and Champagne, or lobster and chardonnay. And saltiness can be cut with alcohol – think olives and sherry, or blue cheese and port.

With Asian cuisines, or dishes heavy with chilli and spice, Samantha, who poured wines at Kylie Kwong’s now-shuttered modern Cantonese Sydney restaurant

Billy Kwong, recommends aromatic whites such as riesling, gruner veltliner, silvaner and vermentino, or lighter, more delicate reds like pinot noir, pinot meunier, gamay, cabernet franc and blaufrankisch. “Big, bold flavours like Sichuan pepper, XO sauce, chilli oil and fish sauce will particularly exacerbate alcohol, tannin and acid, so you need to be careful to choose a wine that’s a little more savoury and fruitforward to balance them out,” she says. If you’re not sure where to start, Jane says that for her, the best way to begin is by visualising the meal. “I think about the taste of the wine and visualise it with the balance of the food,” she says.

“The component that strikes me as most congruent, I go with.”