Food and Wine Pairing

There have been many books written on the subject of food and wine pairing.  Looking through different sources could be overwhelming.  Most people do not really think about the actual pairing when it comes time to opening a bottle of wine during dinner.  Where we see more people taking it seriously is during dinner parties in which they want to create a special experience for their guests.  The problem is that when the time comes to the actual dinner, the host can get pretty stressed out hoping that everything goes juts right.

What we have come to learn is that wine & food pairing can go in so many directions.  There are many schools of thought and they are all correct.  What I think is most important is understand the basics, take one school of thought and experiment.  Find which works best for your style of cooking, dinner party or taste and just have fun.  Food and wine pairing can be influenced by our social upbringing, cultural differences and is subjective.  There are many rules that might apply in some cases and not in others.

I had a great time presenting this seminar to both our staff and our wine club.  It is a very interactive seminar where everyone can take part.  We tasted different types of wine based on the fundamental elements of taste; sweet, sour & bitter. We then tried each wine with foods that had those same fundamental elements.  For example, we tried a high acidic Pinot Noir with acidic, sweet, bitter and salty foods. Instead of just following a power point presentation, the guests had the opportunity to taste for themselves.

At the end of it all, it came down to understanding some fundamentals. Nothing is set in stone.  Keep trying new foods with new wines, you might just discover an amazing new pairing!