Matching wine and food can be tricky, especially given today’s wide range of wines. But the right wine can make any meal a real experience. Our wine guru Kalev Vapper shares his knowledge on how to best match wine and food.
Read the wine bottle label
The first recommendation when pairing wine with food is to read the information on the back of the wine bottle. Quite a number of
wine producers have written on the label of their wine bottles the flavour and aroma characteristics of the wine and
the foods with which the wine is compatible. Of course, pictograms on the price label can also help to simplify the choice of wine, as well as the fact that the price label indicates in colour or text whether the wine is light and fresh or strong and spicy.
PRINCIPLES of wine and food matching:
- Simple wine with simple food: light food requires a light wine, while spicy and dark food requires a strong and darker wine. Balance is key.
- Dry wine before sweet: Dry wine should be drunk before dessert, just as you don’t start your meal with dessert.
- Take into account sauces and additives: if the sauce is strong-flavoured or spicy, even a delicate white fish and chicken dish will require a stronger wine.
- Follow local customs: in each country and region, the best blends of local wines and foods have evolved. You can experiment, of course, but if you want to be sure, trust local flavours.
- Sweet wine with sweet food: the wine must be sweeter than the food, otherwise the taste of the wine may seem rather unpleasant. Fortified wines, such as port or sherry, are often a good accompaniment to sweet foods.
- New World wines (Australia, Chile, South Africa): these are better suited to the bold flavours of modern dishes than old world wines. If you’re eating Italian food, go for an Italian wine, if you’re eating tapas, Spanish wines are a good match, and so on.
- Wine for food is also suitable for drinking: if a wine or other beverage is recommended for the preparation of the food, the same beverage can be enjoyed with the food.
- Consider the weather and the time of year: lighter drinks, fresh white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, Viogner from Chile, Pinot Grigio from Italy, Chardonnay from Australia, or a rosé from Provence in France or the Navarre region of Spain are better in summer heat. On a cold winter’s day, red wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Tempranillo grapes with a stronger and spicier flavour are more suitable.
- Red wine with red sauce, white wine with white sauce: Red wine goes well with red sauce, white wine is better with white sauce.
- Cooling: It is always necessary to chill white wines, as even the best white wine will lose its flavour at room temperature. The correct serving temperature for white, rosé and sparkling wines is always between 7-10* C. The best wines are always served at room temperature.
- In a restaurant, ask for advice: when dining in a restaurant, always ask the sommelier for a recommendation, firstly because he will be happy to help you, and secondly because he will be well-informed about the restaurant’s menu and wine selection. If you’re eating meat and your companion is having a fish dish, it’s a good idea to order a glass of wine to match.
How good a company you keep is also very important. Bad company is unlikely to make you enjoy a very good wine, good company will make a mediocre wine taste much better!
Da Vinci Food wine recommendations
The Da Vinci Food wine list offers more than 100 different wines to match different dishes.
As a wine for company, as an aperitif and as an accompaniment to lighter dishes, chicken and white fish dishes and fresh
salads, the Italian Pignoletto or the Austrian Pfaffl frizzante or
semi-sparkling wines, but why not also the white wines Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or Soave from Italy, have their place.
If you want a stronger white wine to accompany red fish, choose Alturis from Italy.
Chardonnay or a wine from the Corte Camari range of Sicilian wines, made from the same berry. Pork road will ask for a wine from the Merlot grape to accompany it, our selection is well suited to Merlot produced by the Italian winery Carpineto. With lamb and beef, the more robust and darker wines of Corte Camari Syrah, Alturise or Carpineto are already a good match.
For example, the Lambrusco Grasparossa DOC Dolce Bocciolo from the famous Medici family, Ermete Medici
, can be enjoyed with desserts.
The more we know about wines and the more we have experimented and
tried different pairings, the better we will be able to make the right and appropriate choices in the future.
