Great food matched with excellent wine is such a pleasure. And the good news is that most wines go reasonably well with many dishes. Terrible clashes are few and far between. That said, there are a few simple tricks for finding a winning combination. By Susy Atkins.
Match like with like
Make sure you balance light wines with light dishes, and rich wines with rich dishes. Don’t aim for a contrast. So a big, powerful Australian red will go brilliantly with a hearty red meat stew, but not with a lightly dressed ham salad.
Tried and tested
A crisp, dry Italian white is perfect for a grilled piece of fresh fish, but might not stand up to the roast turkey on Christmas Day. Don’t forget rich whites are brilliant with creamy pasta sauces, smoked fish, roast poultry and cheesy bakes, while light reds are the ones to for with cooked tomatoes, roast vegetables, cold meats and ‘meaty’ fish such as salmon and tuna.
Dry or sweet?
Always pair savoury food with dry wines, Puddings need really sweet dessert wines as the high sugar levels in the food strip a dry wine of flavour. It’s particularly tempting to match dry rosé with fruit desserts – just don’t! Rosé goes better with savoury food, especially seafood and cold cured-meat platters.
Think outside the square
When you are planning a wine match for a versatile food such as chicken, consider the flavours of all the other ingredients in the recipe before making your wine choice.
Awkward ingredients
Be especially careful when matching wine to dishes with ‘difficult’ ingredients. Chilli can be a wine-killer, so tone it down if you want to crack open a good bottle. The texture of eggs makes them a challenge (try Chardonnay or Sémillon and avoid heavy reds), while vinegary flavours provide another obstacle (pick tart, crisp unoaked whites).
Chocolate quandary
Luckily, chocolate is easier than most people imagine – just find the stickiest, richest dessert wine you can! For instance, rich, tawny port, Hungarian Tokaji or luscious Australian Muscat.