There’s no doubt that one of life’s greatest pleasures is a glass of wine together with delicious food. Aside from the social benefits of drinking wine, many studies praise wine’s health benefits, particularly the red variety.

Wine can be enjoyed with a group of friends, or you can indulge in a glass while relaxing at home by yourself. But what makes drinking wine better is the different food pairings that you can come up with. So, whether you’re entertaining guests at home or preparing an intimate dinner for two, wine and food pairings can make meals more memorable.

 

Simple Rules For Pairing Food And Wine

It’s easy to be intimidated by the thought of finding the perfect food or dish to pair with a bottle of wine. However, there are easy-to-follow rules that anyone can use as a guide when pairing wine and foods, such as:

• White wine is best paired with chicken or fish; red wine is paired better with red meat or any meat with bold flavors like mutton or lamb. Pair the wine with the sauce and not the meat.
• Wine should be sweeter and more acidic than the food.
• Fatty food should be paired with bitter wine, such as red wine.
• Sweet wine will taste better with sweet food, while salty food will taste better with high acid varieties. Spicy food may taste better with sweet, fruity wine or semi-dry wine.

The main purpose of food and wine pairings is to enhance the dining experience. There are plenty of strict rules surrounding pairing, but your taste and enjoyment are what matters at the end of the day. Regardless of the type of food and wine that you want to pair, it’s best to remember these basic tips when handling wine:

• Serve wine at the right temperature. Many wine varieties are best served chilled.
• Stick to your comfort zone—drinking wine is a fun experience, so don’t be afraid to try different varieties.
• Serving stale wine is a big mistake. Keep in mind that wine has an expiration date once opened.

Aside from following the rules mentioned earlier, keep in mind that it’s all about personal taste and preference most of the time. The best rule to remember when pairing wine with food is to explore and have fun! So, enjoy a glass of red wine with your favorite dish—who knows, you might discover a new food-and-wine pairing that you will truly enjoy!

Food And Wine Pairings That You Should Try

There’s no need to be a knowledgeable sommelier to develop a delightful combination for food and wine. These food and wine combos will help inspire you in coming up with your very own magical pairing:

• Lamb Kebabs With Full-Bodied Red Wine

Red wine is best paired with bold-flavored meat, so lamb or beef skewers will taste good with it. Persian dishes are typically rich and aromatic, so wine with bold flavors work best. In some cases, Persian cuisine also has spicy dishes that make red wine a good option, specifically the semi-dry variant. Sweet red wine also pairs well with lamb kebabs or kofta kebabs.

• All-Meat Pizza With Semi-Dry Red Wine

An all-meat pizza on a weekend movie night is popular comfort food for many people. While the usual beverage to drink with pizza is soda, wine can make your meal more enjoyable. The best wine to pair with an all-meat pizza is red wine since the fatty meat toppings will complement the red wine’s acidity.

• Japanese Gyoza With Semi-Dry White Wine

Pairing wine with dumplings can be tricky since these food items vary in ingredients. A plate of Japanese gyoza is a nice, filling appetizer that pairs well with white wine, particularly the aromatic type. Gyoza are steamed dumplings, then pan-fried and eaten dipped in soy sauce with rice wine and herbs. It can also be paired with sparkling wine, or light red wine if you’re not fond of white wine.

• Fish And Chips With Crisp Rosé

Who doesn’t like fish and chips? This English dish can be prepared at home without too much effort, and you can make eating them more special by choosing the best wine to pair it with. Fish is typically paired with white wine, but you can bring it up a notch by matching it with rosé wine. Fish and chips usually come with a tangy, tartar dip, so a crisp rosé wine’s acidity complements the food well.

• Sushi With Champagne

Who says you have to drink sake when eating sushi? The best wine to go with sushi, which is raw fish, is white wine. But you can level it up and open the bottle of champagne that’s been sitting on your wine rack for a long time. Champagne is white wine but more special—a dry, sparkling wine that goes well with sushi flavors whether you’re eating salmon or uni. The crisp taste of champagne balances the freshness of raw fish, making for a more delightful meal.

• Chocolate Cake and Sweet Red Wine

Finding the right wine to pair with chocolate cake can be tricky. Chocolate and wine may not be the easiest to match, but there’s nothing wrong with trying. When you have chocolate cake at home and feel the need to open a wine bottle to celebrate a promotion, a birthday, or any milestone, what do you choose? Since chocolate comes from fruity cocoa beans, a sweet red wine will complement this rich dessert. If your chocolate cake is made with white chocolate, you can pair it with sweet white wine instead.

Takeaway

Creating a successful food and wine pairing need not be a stressful situation. The key to a good pairing is finding a balance between wine and food. It also helps to know the characteristics of each wine that you want to try with food. Most importantly, it’s to enjoy and have fun experimenting with various flavors to come up with a pairing that you would want to share with other people.