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Wine and Food Pairing
Food-Pairing Avoidance Guidelines
14) Oak in wine often clashes with an acidic food.
Oaky Chardonnay, Cabernet or Bordeaux does not seem to pair well with acidic foods. Oak conveys a savoriness to the wine which is the opposite of acid. Also oak is very often associated with the same processing that results in malolactic fermentation (MLF). MLF makes a wine seem low in acid because it converts the harsher malic acid to the softer lactic acid. Thus an oaked wine becomes the opposite of acidic and pairs better with savory dishes.
15) Do not pair a high alcohol wine with highly spicy dishes.
Wines over about 13% alcohol by volume ABV) clash with spicy dishes. A hot 15% ABV Zinfandel should never be consumed with Hooter's hot wings.
16) Do not pair fruity wines with oily fish.
Oily fish such as tuna, sardine, salmon, trout, anchovy, and mackerel will make fruit flavors in wine taste strange. Not sure why but they do.
17) With bitter, oxalic acid vegetables avoid wines with residual sugar or that are heavily oaked.
Bitter oxalic vegetables are difficult to pair with wines in any case. Brussel sprouts, asparagus, spinach, greens and artichokes seem more bitter with many wines. Unoaked, herbal whites and light reds seem to be less of a problem.
Practically speaking, only two rules are needed for 90% of food wine pairings: match the body of the wine with the body of the food and match the acidity of the wine with the acidity level of the food. Of those two rules, acidity matching is the most important. With that in mind, Tables 1 and 2 below are important references until you become familiar with the body and likely acidity level of each wine.
With each sip of wine, study its body, and acidity to learn wine and food pairing. It will taste different with food than it does alone. |
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What to Drink with What you Eat
Paperback Guide to Wine and Food Pairing
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