Food and Wine Match
Food & Wine Pairings Guide
Don't match strong to delicate.
Pairing a big, powerful, high-alcohol or high-tannin wine with a light, delicate dish (and vice versa) is rarely a good idea.
Acidity is your friend.
People tend to be wary of wines described as "high acid," like Sauvignon Blanc or Muscadet. Who wants to drink acid, after all? But there’s no better quality in a wine for matching rich, creamy or cheesy sauces, deep-fried foods or fish dishes; in addition, tart wines go better with tart foods, such as a vinaigrette on a salad.
Tannins pair well with fat.
That's because the astringency of the tannins cuts through the viscosity of the fat.
Follow the don't-upstage-the-star rule.
If you have an amazing bottle of wine you want to show off, especially an older vintage (they tend to be more subtle, their flavors less flamboyant), don’t serve a wildly complex dish with it. A simple dish will allow the wine to be the center of attention.
Melon and prosciutto and dry Muscat.
The perfumy, grapey character of the Muscat—Terre di Orazio’s bottling is particularly good—complements the melon, while the saltiness of the prosciutto makes a nice counterpoint to the wine's ebullient fruitiness.
Black truffles and old Burgundy or white truffles and old Barolo.
Truffles have a wild, musky, earthy depth that goes very well with the aromas and flavors—gaminess, spice notes, earth, dried fruits and, well, truffles—that these wines acquire over time.
Raw Belon oysters and steely, crisp Muscadet.
Belons are difficult to pair with wine because of the intensely briny, almost metallic edge to their flavor, but Muscadet’s vibrantly tart citrus notes are like a squirt of lemon juice (but the taste is even better).
Plain roasted chicken and really good cru Beaujolais,
like the Côte de Brouilly from Château Thivin. Cru Beaujolais is one of the world’s most underrated wines, and its fruit character (shading from cherry to blueberry or blackberry, depending on the village) and graceful structure really shine with a simple dish like this; it doesn’t overwhelm the food. Plus, chicken and Beaujolais are both really good the next day, lightly chilled.
Dark chocolate desserts and Bual or Malmsey Madeira.
Chocolate is very hard to pair with wines, but Madeira's combination of acidity and sweetness works extremely well with it.
Finally, one of the best matches I’ ve ever had was Barsac, a French dessert wine made from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, and a foie gras terrine served with a Granny Smith apple gelée. I recently had this dish at Manhattan’s Per Se, and it was pairing at its best. The wine was great by itself, as was the foie gras, but together they were stupendous; the combination of textures and flavors (the honeyed fruit of the wine, the tartness of the apple gelée) just took my breath away.