Food and wine go hand in hand. Most wines are produced as an accompaniment to food, and there are many established guidelines for matching wine with food successfully.
Originally wine styles evolved to complement a cuisine of a region, so this is often a good starting point for finding a good wine and food combination. There is no single choice of wine that must be drunk with a certain dish, but some are definitely better than others.
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS
Match the weight/richness of the food and the body of the wine
Match the flavour intensity of the food and the intensity of the wine
Match acidic foods with high-acid wines
Match sweet foods with sweet wine
Pair chewy meat with tannic wines
Pair salty foods with sweet or high-acid wines
Pair fatty and oily food with high-acid wines
AVOID combining oily or very salty foods with high-tannin red wines
SPARKLING WINES:
Sparkling wines generally are light and acidic - and although they are great to have on their own (as an aperitif), you can drink sparkling wines with cold and fresh seafood and shellfish, caviar, light salads, and light meat dishes such as chicken or pork.
It’s generally a good match for light and salty dishes as sparkling wines (particularly Champagne) are high in acidity
WHITE WINES:
There are so many different white wine styles, but generally speaking, a light bodied white wine is best served with cold and fresh seafood and shellfish, caviar, light salads, and light meat dishes such as poultry.
A richer white wine that is full bodied can be matched with a richer meal, such as a carbonara, or other creamy and heavy dishes.
DON'T serve dry white wines with sweet dishes, as the wine can seem tart and over-acidic when consumed with any food with a degree of sweetness.
RED WINES:
Again, it's difficult to generally pair red wines with food as there are many different styles, body, acidity, and most importantly; tannins.
A full bodied red wine that is tannic is best served with rich dishes, such as red meat (grilled, sautéed), or even with strong flavoured cheeses.
A lighter bodied red wine with lower tannins can go really well with a hearty red sauced pasta dishes or lighter types of cheeses.
NEVER serve red wines with oily fish (such as salmon), as the tannins in red wines can result in an unpleasant metallic taste, therefore in general recommendation is to avoid red wines with fish
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