Red or White?
Pairing a wine with dinner can be a daunting task. When you are in a restaurant, waiters or sommeliers will assist you with your wine selection. A good helper will not only tell you what the “proper” wine choice would be with your entrée, but will further narrow down your choices to your particular taste. A very good helper will actually help you understand your own tastes. Many of us know what we like, but have a difficult time expressing the exact flavors.
When you do ask for advice on wine pairings, be sure to ask the waiter or sommeliers about wine glasses that the wine they recommend will be served in. If you fall in love with a new wine, and want to make if your house wine, you will be able to choose the right wine glasses for your personal collection. Any style of wine glass can be personalized and many people will have several different glasses with personal monograms in their collection
Light or Dark?
Pairing wine is not merely a skill to learn to impress a date, both the taste of the wine and the food will be enhanced by a great pairing. There are some generalities that nearly always hold true. A good rule of thumb is the lighter the meal, the lighter the wine. When the meal consists of meat, then white meat such as chicken and pork would be paired with a white wine and red meat, such as beef or lamb would be paired with red wine. Again, this is a basic starting point.
Some red wines are light and fruity and can easily be prepared with white meats and some fish dishes are robust and can easily be paired with a red wine. In fact, fish dishes are perhaps the most flexible in terms of pairing.
Many meals begin with wine, but there may come a time in the meal when you want to sip your water instead of your wine, and this would be the salad course. Many dressings are based on oil and vinegar. Vinegar will not pair well with any wine.
Wine and Cheese
Wine and cheese pairings can be more complicated. Cheese plates can be appetizers or in many places, dessert. Depending on the stage in the meal, the wine pairings will also differ. Dry wines go best with cheddar type cheeses and Merlots pair will with white cheeses. Wine and cheese pairings can be the most fun and easiest to experiment with, as one does not need to make or commit to a whole entrée to decide, one nibble of the cheese and sip of the wine, will tell you right away whether it’s a match made in Heaven or a bust.
The most important thing to remember is that there are no rules written in stone. Even if a sommelier has recommended a wine pairing, if it doesn’t suit your tastes, then it’s a bad pairing. Each diner must decide for him or herself which wines pair with which meals. Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Also, don’t let anyone tell you that you have made an “error” in your pairing, if it works for you, then it’s a proper pairing. The beauty of wine pairing is that flavors can be enhanced of both the meal and the wine when the match is a good one.