Wine with Food Flashcards
Learn how to pair wine with food.
What are the two factors in food that can make a wine taste more astringent, bitter, and acidic?
Umami and sweetness
Think shellfish with Nebbiolo or apple pie with Chablis. Nebbiolo will seem overly astringent and bitter with lobster, and Chablis will taste acrid and highly acidic with sweet desserts.
What are the two factors in food that can make a wine taste generally more fruity and sweet, and less astringent and bitter?
Saltiness and acidity
Think bacon with Syrah or tomato sauce with Chianti. The saltiness of the bacon softens the tannins of Syrah, and the acid from the tomatoes will negate the nerve of Sangiovese.
When consumed with a dry wine, sweet foods or sweetness in foods can increase the awareness of ________ in wine.
Bitterness, astringency, acidity, and alcohol
Think raspberry tart with Left Bank Bordeaux.
When consumed with a dry wine, sweet foods or sweetness in foods can decrease the awareness of ________ in wine.
Body, weight, and fruitiness
Think chocolate cake with Zinfandel.
Generally, sweet foods should be paired with _______ wines.
Sweet foods should be paired with sweet wines - or wines that are at least as sweet as the food (but preferably sweeter than the food) otherwise the wine can taste acrid.
When consumed with a dry wine, umami in food can increase the awareness of what 4 things in wine.
Bitterness, tannins, acidity, and alcohol
Think raw oysters with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
When consumed with a dry wine, umami in food can decrease the awareness of ________ in wine.
Body, weight, residual sugar, and fruitiness
Think raw oysters with Albariño.
When consumed with a dry wine, acidic foods can increase the awareness of ________ in wine.
Body, fruitiness or ripeness, and residual sugar
Think salad vinaigrette with Italian Pinot Grigio.
When consumed with a dry wine, acidic foods can decrease the awareness of ________ in wine.
Acidity
Think sour cream with Chablis.
Generally speaking, a low acid wine paired with higher acid foods will make the wine taste ________.
Dull, flabby, and unfocused.
Think Viognier with tomato sauce.
When consumed with a dry wine, salty foods can increase the awareness of ________ in wine.
Body
Think smoked meats with Côtes du Rhône.
When consumed with a dry wine, salty foods can decrease the awareness of ________ in wine.
Bitterness, acidity, and astringency
Think aged Parmigiano Reggiano with Barolo.
When consumed with a dry wine, capsaicin (the heat in chili peppers) can increase the awareness of ________ in wine.
Alcohol, bitterness, tannins/astringency, and acidity
Think spicy Szechuan with an oaky, full-bodied Chilean Carmenère.
When consumed with a dry wine, capsaicin (the heat in chili peppers) can decrease the awareness of ________ in wine.
Fruit and residual sugar, along with decreasing awareness of body, weight, and texture
Think spicy Szechuan with off-dry Riesling.
What are the six components in wine that can make a wine challenging, or problematic, to pair with food?
- lots of oak
- high alcohol
- high tannin
- high bitterness
- high in flavor/complexity/extraction
- excessively high acidity