The Perfect Match

This site is dedicated to providing information on matching fine wine with fine food. A considerable amount has been written about the choice of the correct wine with food and this generally leads to added pressure for the host of dinner parties. In essence you can drink your favourite wine with whatever food you want, but if you match the wine with the food correctly your taste buds enhance both the food and the wine to give you the perfect match.

But fear not..... this site is designed to make it as easy as possible for you to make sure you offer the perfect wine with every meal. Please use the menu on the left to find a suitable wine for your meal or search for the food you need an accompaniment for.

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Wine drunk by itself tastes different than wine with food

This is because wine acts on food in the same way as a spice does. The acids and tannins, along with natural sugars, provide a different taste sensation. There is such a thing as a safe bet and some combinations are so good that they should be set in tablets of stone.

Asparagus		Sauvignon Blanc
Christmas Pudding		Muscat de Beaumes de Venise
Consommé		Fino Sherry
Foie Gras		Alsace Pinot Gris
Shell Fish		Muscadet
Goat’s Cheese		Sancerre
Oysters		Champagne
Parma Ham & Melon		Pinot Grigio
Roast Beef		St Emilion
Roast Lamb		Red Bordeaux
Roast Pork		Beaujolais
Stilton Cheese		Port
Strawberries and cream		Sweet Vouvray

There are also some foods to avoid with wine, peanuts for instance will destroy wine flavours and olives are too piquant for most wines, they need Fino Sherry or Vermouth. Another great miss match is raw apple and red wine, the acidity in the apple makes the wine very bitter.

      

You can only taste four things on your tongue

• Sweetness
• Bitterness
• Acidity
• Saltiness

The basic principle in matching is to look for sweetness, acidity or bitterness in the food and serve wines that have the same characteristics. You’re unlikely to find saltiness in wine.

The following are examples of wines with those characteristics.

Red Wines
Pinot Noir	High Acidity
Sangiovese	High Acidity
Gamay Noir	High Acidity
Cabernet Sauvignon	Bitterness
Cabernet Franc	Bitterness
Merlot	Bitterness
Zinfandel	Bitterness
Lambrusco	Sweetness
Port	Sweetness
White Wines
Sauvignon Blanc	High Acidity
Riesling	High Acidity
Muscadet	High Acidity
Champagne	High Acidity
German Wines (most)	Sweetness
Rieslings	Sweetness
Chenin Blanc	Sweetness

Matching can be further confused by the sauce that accompanies a dish, for instance:

Chicken breast can match with virtually any wine including the very best bottles of dry/medium white and the finest old reds especially pinot noir. If you add a Curry or Cajun sauce to the chicken you then need a wine with a strong flavour, such as Gewurtztraminer or a Shiraz/Cabernet, to counteract the sauce. A light bodied wine will be merely overwhelmed.