Food and Wine matching

There is a lot written about food and wine pairing, but it really is a matter of personal taste, if you have time to drink lots of wine and experiment then go for it.

The old rules that red wine with red meat and white wine with fish and poultry don't really hold any ground in today’s society; there are a gazillion types of food around that are available to everybody today, and there is also a vast array of wines to match up with these foods.

These days there's much more room for experimentation and expression of your own personality in food and wine matching.

Vineyard tours and food and wine tasting are a great way to try a variety of wines and find which you kinds you prefer; once you have found a few wines that you like, eat them with foods you like and decide for yourself which ones are best matched for you palate. Just remember that everyone’s taste buds are different, you may enjoy Chardonnay and scotch eggs, but not everyone will; there’s nothing wrong with your pairing though, so carry on with it. (See Wine Tasting)

When pairing food and wine, remember that the wine shouldn't overpower the food, nor should the food overpower the wine. The wine should be like the salt and pepper — it should compliment the food. Drinking wine on its own tastes different than wine with food, because wine acts on food similar to the way a spice does. Acids and sugars in the wine interact with the food to provide different tastes. (See Wine Facts)

Tips:
Wine should enhance the foods flavour; a good match will bring out the flavours and characteristics of the food and the wine. Pair light-bodied wines with lighter food and fuller-bodied wines with heartier, more flavourful, richer and fattier dishes. Delicately flavoured foods — poached or steamed — pair best with delicate wines. An earthy Pinot Noir goes well with mushroom soup and the grapefruit/citrus taste of Sauvignon Blanc goes with fish for the same reasons that lemon does. Very hot or spicy foods — some Thai dishes, or hot curries for example — often work best with sweet desert wines.