How to Pair Wine and Food

Each dish has its ideal wine to accompany it, served at the correct temperature. Consider the many types of wine — red and white, sparkling, sweet, aromatic, full-bodied — each with its own degree of aging and importance in offering a good pairing.

Pairings between wine and food are numerous and varied. The agreement must be established between the smells and flavors of the wine and the dish being tasted. Beyond taste, which is always strictly personal, there are a few basic considerations to weigh when choosing a wine to pair with food.

1) Identify the flavor components of the food. It's essential to decipher the flavor components — sweet, bitter, salty, sour, spicy — to see what to compensate for with the wine.

2) Identify the flavor components and structure of the wine. As with food, once the dominant flavors are established, choose whether the wine should enhance or attenuate them.

3) Look for balance. A delicate dish calls for a light wine, while intense flavors call for a substantial wine in kind — matching the right wine keeps the palate 'clean' so every bite tastes as good as the first.