Wine Pairing With Food: Some Great Tips To Follow
The rules that govern wine pairing with food are a bit looser than they were several years ago, but some connoisseurs are firm in their belief that some wines go better with some foods than with others.
The sense of taste is very complex. The tongue is filled with tastebuds that perceive sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami, a sensation like soy sauce that is usually not found in wines. The vapors from the wines rise through the nostrils and the nasal cavity and into the olfactory bulb in the brain where the tastes are analyzed and filed away.
There are dozens of ways wine lovers describe wine’s appearance, smell, flavor and other characteristics, from corky to foxy to peaches, to smoky, spicy, elegant, fat, short, silky and unresolved. Wine and food lovers believe that wine pairing with food is an art form.
Here are some wines and the foods that go best with them.
White Wines
Light Bodied Dry
These wines like Vinho Verde, Chablis, Muscadet and Pouilly-Fume go best with raw seafood, like sushi, sashimi or ceviche, as well as broiled fish or chicken.
Medium Bodied Dry
These are wines like Soave, Verdicchio, Orvieto and Frascati, all from regions of Italy. These wines go well with fried fish, baked poultry and roasted veal.
Full Bodied Dry
This would be the Seyval Blanc from New York State, Pinot Chardonnay, which is grown all over the world, Macon and Pouilly-Fuisse, Meursault and Montrachet, all from Burgundy, France. These wines go well with chicken and fish in wine sauce and veal cutlets.
Wine pairing with food doesn’t have to be a daunting task. In fact it can be quite a fun and enjoyable experience. Don’t be shy to try new pairings, you might be surprised at what your palette tells you.
Light Bodied Off Dry and Medium Bodied Semi-sweet
These wines aren’t as dry as Chablis, but they lean more toward semi-sweet. The light bodied, off dry wines include Riesling and Sylvaner from Alsace and the California Chenin Blanc. The medium bodied semi-sweet whites are Liebfraumilch, Gewurtztraminer and Vouvray. These wines usually accompany barbecued chicken, ham or veal with sauce.
Full bodied very sweet
These wines include Barsac and Tokay Aszu from Hungary. They’re famous as dessert wines. A good wine pairing with food, specifically dessert, is a Blanquette de Limoux with lemon soufflé.
Red Wine
Light bodied, dry
These wines include Bardolino, Valpolicella, and Beaujolais wines from Italy, California and France. They are traditionally paired with seafood in sauce, leg of lamb or broiled beef.
As you are learning wine pairing with food I suggest to take some time and even close your eyes when trying the combinations. This can be fun and sexy at the same time if you have someone to partake in the experience with you.
Medium-bodied, Dry
These are the Bordeaux wines, Chianti and red Zinfandel and they’re paired with roast beef, or ham, or braised lamb.
Full-bodied dry
These wines include the Burgundies, Chambertin, Cotes de Provence, Barbera, Nebbiolo, which are served with pot roast, beef in sauce, barbecued beef and poultry and game.
Robust Dry and Robust Sweet
These wines are served with highly seasoned meats and poultry. They include Barbaresco and Barolo from Italy. The robust sweet wines include Passover wines from New York State and Mavrodaphne from Greece.
Roses
These are the Grenach Rose and Rose of Cabernet from California, Catawba Rose from New York State and Rose d’Anjou from France. These wines accompany lamb, cold cuts, chef’s salad and roasted pork or chicken.
Another wine pairing with food is champagne with caviar, once a year. You don’t want to over do it here… 
As you might gather here, pairing wine with food can be fun while you are learning about wines. Remember though, all this is good, but your palette may tell you different from what is outlined above. Listen to your palette, for it is telling you what you like.
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