5 Tips for Wine Pairing

Wondering what wine goes best with what dish? Read up on these great tips to help you pair the perfect wine with the perfect meal.

1. Pair sweet foods with sweet wines. A popular example and pairing seen at tasting bars is chocolate and Port. Pairing sweet foods with a wine that is un-sweet or even dry, will make it taste sour or accentuate the bitter, dry-mouth tannins. So remember to pair sweet dishes with sweet wines, even if they are only slightly sweet dishes, be sure to still pair them with a slightly sweet or off-dry wine.

2. Pair acidic foods with acidic wines. A great example would be a salad with some type of vinaigrette dressing and a Sauvignon Blanc. Wine will have a tendency to taste much more acidic and very sour if it is paired with a food that is not very acidic.

3. Pair rich foods with rich wines. Tannic wines should be paired with dishes that are rich, meaty, heavy, acidic or even slightly bitter. Adding a small amount of salt can help to balance the tannin levels. Wine can grow to taste even more tannic and unpalatably bitter if it is paired with a dish that fails to account for the tannins in a wine. For example, you might pair a charbroiled steak with mustard sauce and Cabernet Sauvignon.

4. Pair light foods with light wines. A good example, is the pairing of a tomato salad with a Pinot Grigio or even a Brie baked in puff pastry with a Chardonnay. Pairing heavy foods with a light wine or vice versa, doesn’t mean that things will necessarily taste bad, they’ll just seem and taste out of balance. The heavier component has a tendency to wash over the experience of the lighter dish or wine.

Typically a good rule of thumb is to pair white wines with fish and red wines with meat. However, it isn’t always true. For example, salmon often tastes wonderful with a Pinot Noir is a somewhat heavy fish and the Pinot Noir is a lighter red wine.

5. Pair intense foods with intense wines. A good example is the pairing of a peppercorn steak with a Syrah. Stick with the previous tip to help prevent one component from overwhelming the other.

For more great information on wine and winery experiences, visit one of the finest of Temecula Wineries, Ponte Winery. Ponte Winery can offer you and your friends and family a plethora of knowledge when it comes to Temecula Wine Tasting and the best types of food to accompany your tastings. So next time you have a chance, visit a Temecula Winery unlike any other and enjoy a relaxing day filled with mouthwatering wine. Visit Ponte Winery today!

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