For many people, it’s natural when sitting down at a nice restaurant to order a drink first, commonly a glass of wine. However, you may want to think twice before ordering wine ahead of your dinner. The reason is simple: it’s best to choose your food first to avoid a mismatched meal and wine pairing that could ruin your experience.
Pairing wine with food isn’t just for vino enthusiasts (although it is arguably one of the phases of becoming a true wine snob). Incompatible wine and food can result in an unpleasant aftertaste that could make both your expensive dinner and glass of wine taste off. Thus, to avoid one of several mistakes everyone makes when dining out, decide on your meal first, then choose a wine that will balance or match the flavors of that dish. If you’re a new wine drinker or lack confidence in choosing wine, follow these simple tips for how to order wine at a restaurant.
There are two main methods for pairing wine with food: complementary pairings and congruent pairings. Congruent pairings match identical key flavors found in the wine and food — for instance, pairing sweet wines with desserts. Meanwhile, complementary pairings are about balancing contrasting flavors of food and wine, such as pairing sweet wines with spicy foods, and acidic or dry wines with rich, fatty dishes. Specific examples of popular complementary pairings include fried chicken and champagne, spicy foods and a sweet riesling, and steak and cabernet sauvignon.
Read more: This Is How You’re Ruining Your Beer
Basic tips for food and wine pairing
Steak and red wine at restaurant
Steak and red wine at restaurant — fornStudio/Shutterstock
There are several elements found in wine to consider for food pairings, including acidity, tannins, sweetness, body, and alcohol content. High-acidic wines, like sauvignon blanc, are balanced well by fatty, salty foods, while acidic wines paired with acidic foods can overwhelm the palate. Red wines with high tannins – the bitter and astringent compounds in grapes — also pair well with fatty, protein-rich foods like red meat and bold cheeses. The fat helps create a smoother-tasting wine, while the tannins help break down the proteins in red meat like steak, making our taste buds perceive it as more juicy and tender.
One of the best ways to pair your wine with food at a restaurant is to consider the body or fullness of a wine. Light-bodied wines, like pinot noir or pinot grigio, pair well with more delicate foods like fish, chicken, salads, and vegetables, while full-bodied wines (syrah, chardonnay, or malbec) go better with rich foods like beef stew, steak, or creamy pastas.
While sweet wines can help balance spicy foods, high-alcohol wines (those over 14% alcohol by volume) will intensify the spiciness of food. Thus, it’s best to stick with wines with low-to-medium ABV to avoid feeling like your mouth is on fire when eating a spicy dish. However, if you end up with a wine that is subpar, you might be surprised to know that spicy food can actually make bad wine taste better.
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