Because with the right pairing, wine can make food taste better, and food can make wine more fragrant. Red wine is usually rich in tannin , and the astringency of tannin has the effect of removing oil and relieving greasiness. Liquor usually has a refreshing fruity aroma and acidity, which can dilute the fishy smell or increase the sweetness of food. This principle is the basis for what we often hear (red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat).
1. White wine with white meat
The so-called white meat generally refers to meat with less fat, fine texture, and light meat, rather than meat with white color. In addition to seafood, it also includes veal, chicken, pork... If this kind of delicate meat is paired with light white wine, the white wine will not rob the flavor of the food, but the rich floral and fruity aroma can bring out the aroma of the food or dilute the fishy smell of the meat; the moderate sourness can make the meat taste better. The food is sweeter and more refreshing.
Since the taste of red wine is usually strong, it is easy to suppress the delicate flavor of food, and the rich tannins can also make the white meat lacking oil have an overly dry taste, or it can easily combine with seafood to form a strong rusty smell, such as salmon and salmon. Horrible combination of Shiraz red wine.
2. Pair red wine with red meat
Red meat refers to meat with more fat, thicker meat fibers and stronger meat flavor, such as beef, mutton or duck. Most red wines usually have a relatively strong taste and rich tannins. The full wine aroma is more suitable to complement the strong-smelling meat; the rich tannins can soften the meat, making the meat taste more tender; and the astringency The astringent feeling produced by the taste can also remove the greasy feeling. Therefore, when tasting the rich and oily Sirloin Steak, pair it with Cabernet Sauvignon red wine that is full of tannins and has a strong aroma. It will not only reduce the strong stimulation of tannins on the taste buds, but also remove the greasiness of fat at the same time.
On the other hand, if the rich and fatty beef is combined with a refreshing white wine, such as Lishling Baijiu, not only will you not be able to feel the rich taste changes that the wine can bring to the meat, but you will also not be able to taste Lishling. Light and as bland as boiling water.
3. Principle of reciprocity
After you have made a preliminary judgment based on the basic principles of red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat, you can go a step further and make a more appropriate choice based on the quality of the wine and the thickness of the food. The mellowness of a wine refers to the tannin content, alcohol content, etc., that is, whether the overall feeling of drinking this bottle of wine is strong or light. This is also an important factor in pairing with food. Simply put, match rich food with rich wine, and light food with light wine.
For example, pair a bottle of light Chardonnay that has not been fermented in oak barrels with delicate and refreshing pan-fried scallops. The fresh fruity aroma can make the juicy scallops more tender. However, Chardonnay that has been fermented in oak barrels will inevitably turn the originally smooth and juicy taste of scallops into a dry and tasteless wine due to the richness and overwhelming aroma of oak barrel tannins.
4. Evaluate the overall taste of food.
There are many changes in dishes. Although we know that red wine goes with red meat, white wine goes with white meat, and we also know whether the food and wine are thick or light, we must also evaluate the cooking taste of the food.
Before choosing a wine, make a rough assessment of the main combinations of sour, sweet, bitter and salty dishes, as well as the main taste they will present. For example, dishes flavored with lemon juice or vinegar may have an obvious sour taste. In this case, it is best to choose a wine with a strong sour taste. For example, Italian dishes full of tomato sourness may have to be paired with Italian red grape varieties Sangiovese (Sangiovese) or Nebbiolo (Nebbiolo) with strong sourness. Otherwise, wine without sourness will be easily deformed. It seems dull and lacks vitality; in the same way, if the overall taste is sweet, then a slightly sweet wine will not taste boring.
5, contrast principle
Germany, France's Sauternes and Alsace all produce delicious sweet wine , sweet wine is usually not easy to match with many foods, because the rich sweetness can easily produce a sense of satiety or suppress other foods. The taste of food.In addition to being directly used as dessert or paired with dessert, it is actually very suitable for salty foods. The most famous example of this strong contrast is the extremely sweet Sauternes and the smelly (another kind of aroma) and salty blueberry cheese. This rich sweetness and heavy saltiness are recognized as the absolute best. match. Pecorino Romano, another salty cheese, also pairs well with sweet wines.
