The perfect match
At this time of year especially I’m often asked to suggest a perfect match between wine and food. The answer can be quite uncomplicated — Keep It Simple, Sweetie!
The first consideration is: what are you trying to match? The dish to the wine? Or the wine to the dish? Do you already have the wine? Or will you build the meal around a certain main dish or type of cuisine? Once that is clear the rest is only a matter of interpretation and/or purse capacity.
During this season, often the main dish at a family party will be roast fowl, such as goose, duck or guinea fowl or a rack of beef served with all the trimmings. For any of these, the choice is relatively simple. Just go for a fine Pinot Noir. This black grape wine can be enjoyed with almost any cuisine — salmon, roast lamb, rib of beef, cheese and nuts.
At its very best Pinot Noir can lift a mediocre meal to ambrosial heaven.
Depending on where it is grown Pinot Noir can cover quite a wide range of flavors. Often there are aromas of dark cherries and juicy plums with perhaps a touch of cocoa and a hint of toasty oak. Usually, the rich tannins and balanced acidity support the core flavors of ripe cherry, juicy plums and the delicate hints of soft, toasty oak.
Produced in Burgundy, France, these wines are rustic and earthy with pronounced notes of cherries, and mushrooms along with hints of cloves and roses with some vanilla — the very attributes that are desirable to enhance many food flavors.
Pinot Noir is not an easy grape to grow, but apart from Burgundy in France there are other regions of the world where this fickle grape does shine — Spatburgunder in Germany, Pinot Nero in Italy, and some other notable places in Europe. And in New Zealand and other places in the southern hemisphere too, such as Argentina where the wines have a pronounced black cherry flavor and come with a little extra spice.
Or, you could opt for a Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux Left Bank, California, or Mendoza. Keeping in mind that the cost may differ!
In general, simple wines can go wonderfully well with simple food, and color is no indicator of success. A ham sandwich on brown bread with a little fig preserve or a touch of fruity mustard can be very tasty when accompanied by a fruit-driven white viognier wine from the Rhone Valley.
And a little splash of wine or even a spoonful or two from the bottle you’re drinking can add to the sauce that accompanies your meal. There is however one golden rule about cooking and wine that should be paid heed to: if the wine is not good enough to drink, it is not good enough to cook with. As any bad traits in the wine will be concentrated in the food; cooking will not help dissipate (cook off ) these. The wine should enhance the dish, and vice versa!
Lastly, there’s one simple rule of thumb that has served me well; pair a delicate dish to a delicate wine, and a robustly flavored meat to a robust wine. But there’s also one uncompromising “no-no” to remember here — don’t pair any wine to very highlyflavored dishes. For instance, when the food is a tasty vindaloo, stick to beer!
Happy Holidays!