Consumers
are often confused by suggestions that certain wines can
only be enjoyed with specific dishes. In reality, everyone
has their
own preferences about which wines and foods are complementary,
and the taste of a wine and food pairing usually has more to
do with the seasoning in a dish (e.g. sauces that are salty, sweet,
sour
or savory)
than it does with the dish itself.
We encourage you to
discover your own preferences.
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The judicious
addition of Salt to food, especially to sauces and other savory
foods, can be useful in some cases to tone down the Bitterness and Astringency (strong taste) in some wines. |
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Sour foods
with high amounts of acidity will decrease our perception of sourness
in the wine, making the wine taste richer and more mellow. |
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Sweetness in
food will increase the perception of sourness, bitterness and astringency
in the wine, making the wine seem less sweet (drier), less fruity
and stronger. |
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Savory
(umami) taste in food will increase our perception
of bitterness in wine. |
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A
note about Spicy seasonings: Spicy food will exaggerate the
tannin and bitterness of a wine. Salt and sour additions to the
food will counteract this effect on the wine. For instance, squeezing
lime over hot enchiladas makes for a more wine friendly dish. |
Salty
As foods become more salty, their own flavors tend to increase
and neutralize bitter and sour tastes of the wine tasted after
salty
foods. Saltiness in
the food creates an impression of less bitterness in the wine. Some people
make a habit of putting a little salt on Granny Smith and other "tart" apples.
This is done to soften the sourness and bitterness, making the apple seem
more mild in taste. Proper seasoning
of meat-based sauces is important to negate the savory compounds produced
in the cooking process which can unfavorably impact the taste of the
accompanying wine. Sour
Natural acids impart tartness or sourness of food or wine. Most
wines that have sweetness, such as White Zinfandel and many
Rieslings, also
have a very
high acidity to keep the wine from tasting flat or cloying. If a food
reacts in a way that suppresses the sourness of such wines,
they will taste very
sweet in comparison. Dry wines tend to taste more acidic because they
do not have the sweetness balancing and covering the sour taste.
White
wines tend to be higher
in acidity than red wines.
Sweet
Sweetness is found in many foods and wines. Sometimes we do not
really think of certain types of sauces or foods as "sweet" when
in actuality they are, such as teriyaki, cocktail sauce and other
tomato sauces. Often
vegetables and certainly fruits can add a degree of sweetness to a
dish and
must be considered when making a wine selection. There is a wide range
of sweetness levels in many beverages and foods. Our individual
expectations will dictate the desirability of levels of
sweetness. This is expressed in many ways: how we take our coffee
or tea, what kind of chocolates we like, the balance of a wine,
etc. The
desirability of a wine and food combination that effects the sweetness
of the wine depends entirely on the preference of the individual
experiencing the combination. A combination that raises the
sweetness of a wine
may be delicious to someone who appreciates a sweeter wine, while
the same
combination is considered unsatisfactory for someone who prefers
a drier wine. When food is sweet it will suppress the sweetness
of the
wine served
with it through sensory adaptation.
Savory
Savory, or umami in Japanese, has gained acceptance by food
scientists as a fifth taste, separate from the tastes sweet,
sour (acid), salty and bitter.
The prototype for savory taste is found naturally occurring in almost
all food to some degree. Umami was identified by the Japanese
researcher Ikeda in 1908 as the taste in laminaria Japonica seaweed,
used as a component of soup
stocks in Japanese cuisine, and was associated with glutamate
(monosodium L-glutamic acid). Later, ribonucleotides were discovered
as having umami taste
and also having a synergistic effect with glutamates that greatly
enhance the perception of the umami taste. Umami is
more prevalent and often found in higher concentrations in Asian
cuisines. Western palates do not as easily recognize umami because
we have never been taught to identify it. As with other tastes,
the umami taste
is many times hidden behind stronger tastes like saltiness. The umami taste
in food can have an effect on taste elements of a wine that is
served with it, bringing out bitter and often metallic tastes.
The reaction
between umami and wine can be negated by salty tastes
in food.
Bitter
Bitterness is often confused with astringency and is similar
to astringency in its interaction with food. A bitter taste
is commonly
found in some
green vegetables (endive, arugula, radicchio) and herbs, many
spices, some fruits,
or food charred during the cooking process. Bitterness is extracted
from many foods during cooking, especially at high temperatures.
This also
occurs when you boil tea instead of gently steeping it. Food
with bitter components
seems to increase the bitterness of a wine served with it.
Make sure that the herbal-smelling Sauvignon Blanc chosen
to serve with the dish with lots of fresh herbs does not push
the bitterness of the wine over the top.
Astringency
There are tactile sensations, such as astringency, imparted
by wine and food, which can react in combination. Astringency
(mostly
from
tannins in wine,
fruit such as a persimmon, and vegetables) is the most prevalent
of these sensations. These sensations of touch are important
along
with taste
in determining the basic reaction potential between different
wine and
food combinations
and were once thought to actually be a sensation of taste. The "tannic" taste of a wine is actually a sense of touch
and not of taste. Tannins coagulate proteins in your mouth and create
a puckering or drying sensation known as astringency. Consumers who think
that this sensation is what is meant by a "dry wine" very often
misinterpret this sensation. A "dry" wine is simply not sweet.
Astringency in wine is accentuated by food that is sweet or "hot" (spicy)
and is suppressed by foods that are acidic, salty, fatty.
The most
dramatic example of this can be demonstrated by eating
a bit of soft-ripened bleu cheese followed by a taste of tannic red
wine. A
small percentage of people will find a strong reaction
to bitterness with this combination due to a high sensitivity to
this taste.
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