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Food Pairing Tips from Winemaker Jeff Gaffner
Serve wines you and your guests enjoy: While ‘white wine with fish and red wine with meat’ provides a simple and easy to remember starting point, the reality is that there are both light and full bodied whites and reds, with room to mix and match both with different foods based upon the individual texture and flavors of the wine. So, for example, if you have guests who only like white wine, don’t worry, it’s not as limiting as you might think. You can pair a crisp Sauvignon Blanc with shell fish or summer salad, or serve a big, rich white, like our Hestan Chardonnay with heavier foods, even some red meat dishes.
Serve lighter wines before full bodied wines. As with food, your palate appreciates a progression from lighter to heavier. Begin the meal with a lighter wine; pairing sparkling wine, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and lighter Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with first courses including salads, soup and light appetizers. Fish and poultry courses are best paired with light to medium bodied Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux blends, and Zinfandel will stand up to heavier meat dishes. Desserts benefit from being served with wines containing a higher sugar level such as Sauterne, Late Harvest Riesling or Port. The latter is also a nice accompaniment to an end of meal cheese course.
Consider the Food Preparation Technique: Often a sauce or preparation (grilling, sautéing etc.) is the dominant element in a dish. Your wine choice should match the sauce first and the underlying dish secondly. For example pair the crisp acidity of Rosé with oil based sauces like aioli, or slightly sweet wines like an off-dry Riesling with peanut sauce, or an old vine Zinfandel with a hearty marinara sauce. One of my favorite combinations is olive tapenade served with the ripe fruit flavors or our Meyer Vineyard Cabernet.
Compliment Key Food Flavors: Another element to consider when matching food and wine is the prominent flavor of the food. For example, a smoky Pinot Noir goes beautifully with mesquite grilled ribs, an earthy syrah is a fine match for sautéed wild mushrooms, and steak in peppercorn is a quintessential pairing for the pepper notes in our Stephanie Red Wine.
And, Most Importantly, Experiment!
To get you started, here’s a basic food and wine pairing guide that may be helpful:
