Guidelines For Pairing Food and Wine

1. Match Flavor Intensity Match delicate wines with delicate foods, and conversely match powerful wines with powerful foods. The Soave goes with the Poached Fish, and the Bordeaux with the Roast Game, and not vice versa.

2. Opposites Sometimes Attract On occasion you may enjoy spicy foods such as Curries with sweet dessert wines. Personally I avoid applying this guideline too often.

3. Geography Reigns When in doubt select wine and food from the same area. The soil and microclimate may have a similar effect on both the grapes and the food. For example, Hungarian Cabernet Sauvignon tastes of paprika, the national spice of Hungary.

4. What's Sauce For The Goose Is Sauce For The Wine Pair powerful wines with powerful sauces, such as those produced by reduction, the boiling off of excess water. It's often wise to employ the same wine in the sauce and in the wine glasses.
Subrule- If a wine isn't good enough to drink, it isn't good enough for your sauce.

5. Balance Sweetness Avoid combinations in which the food is sweeter than the accompanying wine. Otherwise the wine may come off tasting thin.

6. Hot Weather Blues Avoid highly alcoholic wines on hot sticky days. Either go with a beer or a low alcohol wine such as a German Riesling.

7. Balance Acidity The food should never be more acidic than the accompanying wines. On the other hand, acidic wines such as Sauvignon Blanc tend to be food-friendly. So should we always drink acidic wines? I would say no.

8. Temperature Counts If you really want to do it right, use an ice bucket to chill most reds for five minutes before serving. Increase this time to 15 minutes for red Beaujolais and to 15-25 minutes for most whites. If you can't be bothered with an ice bucket, don't forget the fridge. A relatively small difference in temperature can make a big difference in taste.

9. When In Doubt, Open A Champagne Bottle If, like most of us, you can't justify champagne with most meals, choose a good sparkling wine such as a Spanish Cava. And don't forget Rule 5 (Balance Sweetness).

10. Drink Your Wines In The Right Sequence If you are lucky enough to accompany a meal with several wines, increase your enjoyment by drinking them in the right order as suggested in the following guidelines. Drink dry before sweet, white before red, young before old, simple before complex, and light before heavy. What about the inevitable conflicts, for example most sweet wines are white and not red. Between wines cleanse your palate with water or a small piece of bread.