When we choose a wine that we typically desire with our meal, most of the time we just make an educated guess on what we think will work with the food we have prepared.
Or if we're in a restaurant and we are having a special meal, we might ask the waiter or the sommelier for a suggestion. It can seem quite complex, but even the experts go back to three basics: acidity, body, and flavor, with acidity the most important when pairing food. You can also look for the best food and wine pairing course online.
Image Source: Google
In the long run, what we are trying to accomplish when we pair food and wine is to create combinations complementing each other. The food should enhance the flavor of the wine, and likewise, the wine should complement the flavor of the food.
The following are the basics that we will use to properly pair food and wine:
1. Acidity: White wines are produced from grapes that are harvest earlier in the ripening process. This is when the acids are higher and the sugars are still undeveloped. These more acidic wines are ideal for seafood or poultry that is marinated in citrus, and also those that are with cream-based sauces.
2. Body: Certain wines will have a fuller more robust taste, and this is often determined by the characteristic of the grape variety in which the wine is made as well as the quality of the wine itself. Alcohol level may also determine a wine's body; wines with a higher alcohol level often will have a greater body.
3. Flavor: Wine is just another type of food, and it has the basic flavors of any other food (except for salt). The one difference is that wine has alcohol which adds aroma and body, and this gives the wine a richer taste.