Easy ways to pair your favourite foods and wines to enhance your dining experience

Food and wine pairing basics

There are tons of websites, tools, and apps out there dedicated to helping you with your food and wine pairings (like this chart from the NSLC or this matcher widget from wine writer Natalie MacLean). While I typically eat whatever I feel like while I drink whatever I feel like, a little education - and some fun - never hurt anyone! Here is some advice to keep in mind next time you feel like enhancing your dining experience with a little something extra.

The right food and wine pairings can help enhance your dining experience. #winetime #winepairing #wineandfood

Why is wine paired with food?

Pairing wine and food can help enhance the flavour of the food or the wine. Food is going to affect your palate, and how it does so can affect your perception of the wine you’re drinking at the time. And vice versa!

How do you pair wine with food?

Much like pairing wine with chocolate a lot if it comes down to finding the right balance. White wine tends to pair better with lighter foods, like fresh greens, fish, and chicken. White wine is acidic. These acids will help enhance the flavours, helping food taste fresher.

Red wine pairs well with rich, heavier meals like steak, and tomato-based pasta sauces. Red wine is high in tannins, which will soften protein in meat and enhance the flavour of the fat.

A bold meal (like one with marinated meat or spicy rubs) goes with a bold wine: think Shiraz. A lighter, delicate meal (like poached fish or chicken) pairs with a light wine: think Soave or Pinot Grigio.

This doesn’t mean you must follow the old school rule that you should only drink red wine with meat and white wine with fish. You need to think about all the ingredients in the dish and how you can enhance them.

Match your wine with the flavours of the sauce, or the spices and seasonings in the dish, rather than the protein itself. A chicken dish that features a rich tomato sauce, like chicken parmesan, and a light spinach salad with grilled chicken and a citrus vinaigrette are two totally different meals, that will be complemented by totally different wines.

Think more along the lines of pairing light wines with a light meal and heavier wines with a heavier meal. Then think of the qualities of the wine, and match it with a dish with similar qualities.

You can complement your wine and food.

Consider the qualities of the wine - fruity (a Muscato, Sauvignon Blanc, or Zinfandel), earthy (a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir), nutty (like an oaky Chardonnay). Match the wine to a dish with the same qualities - bbq chicken and pineapple (fruity), mushrooms and wild rice (earthy), peanut or cashew sauces (nutty).

You can contrast your wine and food.

You can contrast the elements of your food and wine to offset certain tastes. Acidic wine contrasts well with salty food. Salty food contrasts well with sweet wine (because who doesn’t love a good sweet & salty combo?). The same goes for sweet and spicy. A sweet Riesling can offset the spice of a hot Asian dish.

You’ll never want to pair a bitter wine with strong bitter-tasting foods, like broccoli, brussels sprouts or kale. The bitterness would be too overpowering.

Mozza sticks and sparkling Nova 7 pair perfectly on my birthday! Sparkling wines go well with cheese, lighter cheeses in particular. With Mozzarella’s light aroma, it really is a match made in heaven! #wineandfoodpairing #wineandcheese #winetime

Perfect wine and food pairing examples

Burgers & Malbec
Juicy chops & Cabernet Sauvignon
Salty popcorn & a sweet Pinot Grigio
Crisp acidic Sauvignon Blanc and fish with lemon sauce
Creamy Chardonnay with cream-based pasta sauce
A spicy Syrah with a heavily seasoned (with cumin and chilli powder) dish, lilke curry or Moroccan stew.

Make sure your wine is sweeter than what you’re enjoying for dessert, as to not take away from the wine or leave a bitter taste. #wineandfoodpairing #winetime #dessertwine

When it comes to dessert, make sure the wine is sweeter than what you’re serving or your dessert will take away from the wine and may leave a bitter taste. You can break out the chocolate and pair accordingly. Or you could just stick with dessert wine, a treat in and of itself.

Fun fact: Sparkling wine acts as a palate cleanser so goes well with any dish. Cheers!

Be sure to read: Everything you need to know about chocolate and wine pairing

Check out how to make decadent red wine hot chocolate