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7 principles for pairing wine and food
7 principles for pairing wine and food
Anonim

In addition to the well-known principle "white wine for fish and cheese, red for meat", there are a few more nuances. Knowing them, you will always be able to favorably emphasize the flavors of both dishes and drinks.

7 principles for pairing wine and food
7 principles for pairing wine and food

Knowledge of a dozen patterns eliminates the need to remember hundreds and thousands of special cases - this is the first thing that is taught in any decent university. Nevertheless, tens and thousands of guides on food and wine pairing, which the Internet abounds in, are sustained in the spirit: "Chateau Haut-Brion wine is suitable for Brillat-Savarin cheese!" Why exactly it, why on earth and what to do if there is no money for Haut-Brion, but only for Number Reserve, remains unclear. Therefore, we will try to fix several rules obtained as a result of some special research.

1. Salty food makes wine sweeter

The intense salinity of the food enhances the sweetness of the wine, especially if this sweetness is not due to residual basic sugars, but is based on pentoses and glycerol-like substances. Dry white rioja, eg with salted bacalau Dried and very salty cod, popular in Portugal. - Approx. ed. it turns out to be noticeably sweet, especially if it is wines aged in oak.

2. Salty foods reduce the astringency of wine

The same salinity of food significantly reduces the tannin content of the wine. A highly tart, "cocky" wine with salted ham, for example, is less aggressive not only because of the fat, but also because of the salt. The most striking example will be the combination of young red wines from the Vinho Verde region with anchovies or even salted herring.

3. Wine tastes sour when combined with sweets

After dessert or fruit, dry white wines do not work at all, they seem aggressively acidic. There are options with reds, depending on their astringency. According to this principle, "hot" wines from the south of Italy are perfectly combined with meat with sweet sauces, for example.

4. Fatty foods "slim" the wine

Scrambled eggs and bacon, to which bacon was generously added, makes the "fat" Viognier look like a "liquid" pickpool or Riesling, but it perfectly removes the extra oak flavor from a barrel chardonnay.

5. Smoked meats make the wine heavier

Smoked dishes, with all the seeming simplicity of the combination, are not so simple. The classic principle of "complement with similar" usually works poorly with them: barrel wines do not lighten or refresh the sensations, you need to use something intensely berry. Smoky flavors weigh heavier wines, so light red wines from Beaujolais or the Loire Valley (and similar ones) are better suited to pairing with smoked products than shiraz from Barossa.

6. The temperature of the wine affects its taste

Lowering the wine serving temperature noticeably reduces the feeling of alcoholicity, but at the same time increases the astringency of red wines. Therefore, young wines with already powerful tannins should be served somewhat warmer than mature wines, for which temperatures around 18–20 ° C are just right.

7. The bitterness of food increases the astringency of the wine

The bitterness of food (for example, chicory, some types of cheese, chocolate) makes the wine more astringent. Therefore, when choosing a drink for dishes with such notes, one should rather focus on white wines (without tannins), especially those aged for a long time on yeast lees: they are rich in shades of umami flavor, which conceals bitterness. The chicory salad, in particular, goes well with classic sparkling wine.

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