This document discusses food and wine harmony and provides guidelines for pairing foods and wines. It notes that personal preference is important but some key components to consider for balance are flavor intensity, acidity, salt, tannin, and sweetness. Lighter foods generally pair better with lighter wines and richer foods with fuller bodied wines. Acidic wines complement acidic or salty foods while sweeter wines work for salty foods. Red meats often pair well with tannic red wines while white meats can be matched to either red or white depending on preparation. Specific food and wine combinations are highlighted that are considered particularly well-matched.

1. FOOD AND WINE HARMONY

2. CONTENTS
PERSONAL
BALANCE
MAIN COMPONENTS

3. PERSONAL
INDIVIDUAL LIKING/DRINKING
WILLING TO DEVELOP OWN TASTE
PERSONAL PERCEPTION

4. MAIN ELEMENTS FOR
CONSIDERATION
• FLAVOUR-INTENSITY & CHARACTERSTICS
• ACIDITY
• SALT
• TANNIN
• SWEETNESS
• WEIGHT

5. WEIGHT
 Rich, heavy weight food (like red meat) need
full bodied wine .
 Light bodied white wine goes well with light
weight food like poultry and fish.

6. Flavour intensity & Character
•Flavour Intensity & weight are contrast
to each other e.g. bowl of boiled pasta or
potatoes without dressing or sauce is
HEAVY in weight but LIGHT in flavour
•NOTE-always match wine with sauce
not with main ingredient eg creamy
chicken curry –the sauce will be heavier
and flavoured than chicken .

7. ACIDITY
•Food /Wine both have acidity.
•E.g.-when vinegar or lemon juice is
used as a condiment –high acidic wine
goes best (muscadet).

8. SALT
•Rockford cheese goes best
with sauternes wine (sweet
desert wine) where cheese is
salty in nature.
•But main course can’t be
served b coz salt clashes
with tannin, better to select
low tannin wine .

9. TANNIN
• Usually detected in red
wine e.g. cabernet
sauvignon .
• Lamb goes well with
tannin red wine

10. SWEETNESS
Always serve wine at least
as sweet or sweeter then the
food being served .
Acidic sweet wine
complement rich food e.g.
pate’
Sweet wine complement
salty food e.g. port with
stilton.

11. BALANCE
To achieve the best match
it is necessary to analyse the
above mentioned
components in both wine &
the food
The principle is to try to
“BALANCE “them so that
neither the food nor the
wine overpowers the other .

12. Whites before Reds?
• Choice has little to do with color.
• If white is light and red heavy, red
will show better served second -
opposite is also true. If white is
complex, red light, serve red first.
• Most roses are light, therefore,
usually best served first.

13. Steak with Cabernet
• For simple steak
preparations, most
Cabernets including elegant
Bordeaux's will match well.
• For steak preparations
involving additional strong
flavors, richer Cabernets
are preferable

14. Red or white wine with meat
1. White meats in cream sauces are usually best
with white wines.
2. White meats with browned treatments are
good with red wines.
3. Red meats grilled or broiled work well with red
wines.
4. Red meats cooked rare, but with certain spices
or techniques (e.g., deep frying) can go with
white wines.

15. The following suggestions are
adapted from Rosengarten and
Wesson, 1989.
• Red or white wine with fish:
1.If red choose a young, fruity red
2.Use high acid red or white wine
3.Avoid oaky whites and tannic reds
4.Avoid red wines with oily fish

16. •Some food and wine combinations
work so well that they are truly
marriages made in heaven. For
example:
•Asparagus SauvignonBlanc
Christmas PuddingLiqueur Muscat
ConsomméFino SherryFoie Gras
SauternesFruits de MersMuscadet
Goat's CheeseSancerreOysters
ChampagneParma Ham and Melon
Pinot GrigioRoast LambRed Bordeaux
Roast
Is there such a thing as a safe bet
food and wine pairing?

17. THANK YOU