Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993 TAG: 9309140017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH CRITTENDEN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The answer is: nowhere. There is no such book nor any rules for drinking wine. So why do many people seem to have a hangup about drinking wine only on special occasions and with certain types of meals?
There are as many wines as there are ways to prepare chicken, and not all of them require the decorum afforded formal occasions.
What about serving wine with pizza or hamburgers? There's no law against it. As a matter of fact, it sounds like a great idea.
Wine has been shared as a food and a symbol of joy for centuries, dating back as far as 2500 B.C. There never have been any rules about how to serve it or which wine goes best with which foods, yet there are millions of theories.
It's time to relax and experiment for yourself. There's at least one wine out there that would taste great with whatever you are planning to have for dinner tonight.
Matching foods and wines can be as simple or as complicated as you choose. Think of it as a game played by those of us who want to bring out the best of both components. But remember, this game has no absolute rights or wrongs, no winners or losers - just varying degrees of compatibility.
Blending or complementing the flavors of wine and food can be a lot of fun.
Experiment with your favorite foods and wines and see what happens. Look for balance in the tastes and ask yourself three questions as you try the wine and food together: Can you still taste the wine and the food? Does the food taste the same, better or worse? Does the wine taste the same, better or worse?
If you try a not-so-great match, simply eat and drink the food and wine separately, then try a different combination next time. At least the experiment will get you thinking about the complementary flavors of that particular food and wine, and just maybe you'll hit on a knockout combination the next time.
The rule of thumb to match white meats with white wines and red meats with red wines can be a good starting point, but it doesn't necessarily need to be followed. Many times it's more important to consider the preparation of your main dish rather than the main ingredient.
Getting back to the ways to prepare chicken, imagine three dishes: chicken baked in a tomato sauce over rice, cold chicken salad and grilled chicken smothered in onions. All three start with the same chicken, but the different ways of preparation and the addition of other ingredients drastically alter the final products. An Italian chianti or American pinot noir (reds) would blend well with the first dish, a lightly sweet Riesling (white) would balance the delicate chicken salad, and a heavier fume blanc (white) would complement the grilled chicken.
It's better first to consider the weight of the foods and wines you are trying to match when looking for good combinations. A delicately flavored main dish will be enhanced by a delicately flavored wine. A hearty main dish will stand up to a more robust wine.
Poached halibut or grouper may be great with a chenin blanc or a sauvignon blanc (whites), but snapper baked in a rich tomato sauce may match up with a merlot (red). Stir-fry beef may complement a spicy gewurztraminer (white), but beef stew will make a better match with a zinfandel (red).
(Note: Zinfandel is a red grape traditionally used to make a full-bodied red wine and more recently made popular as a light-bodied, slightly sweet blush wine called white zinfandel.)
Once you are comfortable with some wine-and-food combinations using weight as a guide, you may want to explore other characteristics of wine that can affect the way it matches up with a particular dish. This is the next step of the game, where the fine-tuning comes in.
Flavor: The flavor of a wine, which is the most enjoyable aspect of the food and wine game, can add to a dish as much as seasonings or other ingredients. Each grape variety (chardonnay, Riesling, cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel, to name a few) has characteristic smells and tastes that come from the grape and are still present in the wine regardless of the country, region or style in which it was made.
All wines can share some common flavor characteristics, such as spicy, buttery, floral or herbal. But the currant, cherry and meaty flavors in red wines are rarely seen in whites; and the citrus, pear and apple flavors in many white wines seldom show up in reds.
When combining wine and food, you can choose to match the flavors of each, or simply complement them. When you match or echo a particular flavor in the wine and the food, that flavor will be softened or sometimes cancelled out. Adjusting the food to match the wine serves a dual purpose: it sets up a better blending of the two components, and it softens the impact of an unwelcome flavor.
When attempting to complement food and wine flavors, think of flavors that may blend well. I like to use the black cherry and berry flavors of a cabernet sauvignon to complement the gaminess of venison.
The accompanying chart presents an overview of the relative weight of some white and red wines, as well as a few characteristic flavors and smells and possible matches with foods. But many factors go into a bottle of wine that can alter their traditional characteristics, so don't expect every bottle of chardonnay or Riesling or Merlot to taste the same as every other bottle. That would take all the fun out of trying new wines.
Sweetness: A sweeter wine usually makes a good match with a dish that has some sweetness of its own from fruit or a touch of honey or almonds. Peppery or spicy foods also blend well with sweeter wines.
Some wine labels will have the words "dessert" or "late harvest" on them, identifying them as wines that can be drunk with or as dessert, since they are made in an especially sweet style. A late-harvest Riesling makes a great match with an apple pie or almond pound cake.
For people just learning about wine, a sweeter, more fruity wine will probably be more appealing at first because the sweet taste is a familiar and enjoyable one to our taste buds. (The irrepressible White Zinfandel is a case in point.)
Drier wines can sometimes be viewed as something to work toward when you are able to learn the tastes and look for different flavors and other components in the wine. If you drink sweetened iced tea, it's probably a good idea to start your experimentations with sweeter wines and branch out from there.
Tannin: Tannin is the astringent component in many red wines that leaves your mouth dry. Tannin also is found in strong tea and other foods and drinks and, in wine, comes from the skin of the grapes. (Eat a red grape and see if you can feel the effect of tannin in your mouth.) The tannin in a wine usually softens with age and makes an older wine taste less astringent and more gentle. Fats and oils in food also tend to soften the harshness of the tannin, so think of rich, creamy foods with tannic wine.
Acidity: Acid in the wine is the component that defines a wine's flavor, finish and aftertaste, perks up its appearance and acts as a natural preservative. There are several varieties of acid that may be present in a wine, some originating in the grape and some developing during fermentation.
When a wine is described as well-balanced, it is because the acid, sugar or alcohol, and tannin (in red wines) are proportionately balanced to give a smooth taste. Acid modifies and diminishes sweetness, so sweet foods don't tend to match up well with acidic wines.
Temperature: Cold tends to mute flavors and sweetness. It also emphasizes the tannin in red wines. Cold food, with flavor muted by lower temperature, is complemented by lighter wines, especially if they also are chilled. Spicy foods also call for the refreshing taste of a chilled wine. If the wine is a little sweet, that's even better.
Many wineries will suggest serving heavier red wines and dry white wines at room temperature. Sweeter white wines and some lighter red wines, like Beaujolais, are refreshing when chilled, but not too cold.
Wines are meant to be consumed with foods, and it shouldn't matter whether you are having an evening meal of scrambled eggs, a ham sandwich, ravioli or pork chops.
Enjoy the experimentation, and feel free to move into uncharted territory for complementary matches. But remember, this is just a game, albeit an enjoyable one, and the only hard-and-fast rule of this game is to find pleasure in the final product. Salud!
Memo: ***CORRECTION***