Hints and Tips for Wine Lovers

As we all know, wine is the perfect accompaniment to food. Both foods and wines are varied and complex in their flavours. To help us remember which wine and food marriages are likely to be success, a few rules of thumb have been evolved over the years to guide us. We have more styles of wine and more styles of food to choose from than ever before, so let your taste buds be your guide.

These are the principles to bear in mind:

Red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat or fish still holds true most of the time.
Take into account all the flavours of the dish. That means the main ingredient as well as the vegetables and sauces.
Try and match the weight of the food and wine to each other.
Match the wine to the occasion, as well as to the food.
Match the sweetness and acidity of the food to the wine.

Matching Wines to food

You have to think of the food you want to serve first, then choose a wine to go with it.

Shellfish: light, dry whites. Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc.
Crab or lobster: Alsace Riesling, Chablis, white Burgundy, Australian or California Chardonnay.
Smoked fish: slightly richer whites. Alsace Sylvaner, Riesling, Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc; light Chardonnay.
Grilled fish: light Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Soave.
Fish in cream sauce: richer Chardonnay, German Riesling Kabinett, Alsace Riesling.
Chicken or Turkey: almost anything, from good Chardonnay to Cabernet Sauvignon.
Duck: rich white. Alsace Riesling, German Riesling Spatlese, fine white Bordeaux or Burgundy.
Lamb: Cabernet Sauvignon.
Beef: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir or Syrah/Shiraz.
Pork: almost any good red or white.
Barbecues: young, vigorous red. Chianti, Vin de Pays d'Oc, Bulgarian.
Offal: young red. Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir. Cabernet Sauvignon. Shiraz.
Pate (meat): sweetish to sweet white. Loupiac, Monbazillac, sauternes, German Riesling Spatlese or Auslese.
Game: good with a Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz, Pinot Noir.
Cheese: excellent with port, but also good with Sauternes, Barolo, Syrah/Shiraz.
Fruit (either on its own or in a pie): Sauternes, German Beerenauslese, Tokaji.
Vanilla ice cream: Australian Liqueur Muscat.
Creme brulee: Sauternes, or Beerenauslese from Germany.

Matching foods to wines

There can be occasions when you have a particular bottle you want to drink. Perhaps you have found an interesting wine and want to open it for wine buff friends - whatever the reason, the aim here is to show the wine at its best.

White Bordeaux: grilled fish, roast chicken.
Sauvignon Blanc: shellfish, asparagus, goat's cheese.
Chardonnay: if unoaked, salmon, trout, chicken Kiev, chicken with tarragon, salade nicoise, roast pork. If oaked, chicken chasseur, pasta with smoked salmon and cream, lobster, smoked chicken.
Alsace whites: onion tart, smoked salmon pate, Chinese food, black pudding with apples.
German Riesling: if dry, salmon, trout, crab. If off-dry, Chinese food, Parma ham and melon, roast goose.
Champagne: cold trout or salmon, cold roast beef, mild cheese like Chaource.
Italian white (Soave, Frascati, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Lugana): mushroom risotto, salads, pesto with pasta.
Sauternes: Rocquefort cheese, pate de foie gras, summer pudding, fresh peaches.
Cabernet Sauvignon/red Bordeaux: roast lamb, venison casserole, steak and kidney pie, roast pheasant.
Pinot Noir/red Burgundy: roast grouse, snails, boeuf bourguignon, roast duck.
Syrah/Shiraz: jugged hare, liver and onions, roast goose, venison sausages.
Port: nuts and dried fruit, cheese.
Beaujolais: ham, sausages, roast pork.
Chianti: liver, pasta with meat sauce, roast duck, roast chicken.
Rose: salads, vegetarian dishes based on root vegetables, ham, sausages, garlicky fish stew.
Malmsey Madeira: treacle tart.

Difficult Foods

A wine can be found to match most dishes. Some foods, though, are distinctly tricky to match; and some simply don't go with wine at all.

Wine no-nos

Anything dressed with malt vinegar
Raw or pickled herrings
Baked Beans
Rhubarb
Vindaloo
Sorbets

Problem foods - and solutions

Chocolate: Sauternes, tawny port, Muscat de Beaumes de Venice, Australian Liqueur Mucat, Asti.
Eggs: light Pinot Noir or Gamay.
Globe artichokes: Sauvignon Blanc.
Chinese dishes: Alsace or German whites, Australian Riesling.
Indian dishes: Alsace whites, soft young Australian Shiraz or French Cotes du-Rhone.
Thai dishes: Sauvignon Blanc