If you're a food connoisseur, you'll know that even the best meals can be incomplete without a delicious wine! Make sure that you know at least these 5 Best Food and Wine Pairings.
However, pairing wine with food isn't as simple as putting out whatever you have in your fridge. If you don't carefully pick out a wine, you can end up creating an overwhelming or underwhelming experience for your guests and yourself.
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There are several rules to consider when deciding which wine to pair with which meals. The wines you select need to be different based on the course, the meal itself, and even factors such as the weather.
Although this can seem like a lot, the result is a well-rounded culinary experience. So, if you want to learn more about the best food and wine pairings, keep reading below.
If you're having a barbeque, your meal is incomplete without a rich, tasty wine. However, because of their intense flavor profile, smoky foods can be some of the most difficult meals to pair drinks with.
If you pair an equally intense wine, the combination can become too overwhelming, and you won't be able to enjoy either. However, if the wine is too mild, the flavor of the meat can easily reduce it even further.
If you're looking for a wine combination with smoky foods that shines every time, few options compare with fruity wine. Although there are a ton of flavors to pick from when it comes to fruity wine, peach is a perennial favorite. A peach wine's smooth, grassy undertones perfectly balance out your barbequed, smoky meals. If you're looking for a classic option, homemade wine is a great choice.
Homemade wines have a distinct rusticity, which can further enhance smoky meals. A southern-style home made wine is one of the best accompaniments to any meal and can help enhance the flavor of smoked meats in particular.
A strong, dry rosé is the perfect accompaniment to your salads or herby starters. When exploring food and wine pairings, it's always best to go course-wise. Starters are usually the lightest parts of the meal and tend to be more herbaceous.
When pairing wine with your starters, you can ensure you don't pick something too heavy, or you'll overpower the rest of the meal.
The point of the starter is to whet the appetite, and a classic, dry rosé is the perfect way to go. This is a delicious fruit-forward wine that never gets too overpowering. Depending on how dry you go, you can get a lovely flavor that oscillates between sweet and savory.
Moreover, you can also expect notes of various fruits, ranging from citrus to strawberry, melon, and cherry. These notes can be the best way to highlight your salads, whether you're going for something with a light or creamy dressing.
Whether you're having it poached, fried, or grilled, fish is an excellent option if you want to go for something that's light yet filling. To complete your fish dish, it is essential to pair it with excellent wine, and chardonnay can be one of the best options.
Chardonnay goes particularly well with fish cooked in a creamy, rich sauce or fattier fish. The dryness helps break up the richness and adds much-needed balance to the dish. It is also refreshingly acidic and can help you minimize the use of additional acid in your dish.
However, while chardonnay has a bright, refreshing taste, it also has a smooth, buttery mouth feel. This aspect, in particular, can help highlight seafood dishes exceptionally well, as it never gets too tart to overwhelm the light seafood flavors. Overall, this is one of the best food and wine pairings around.
If you're curating a lighter menu or just going for something more refined, a cheeseboard can be an excellent addition. Although you can add several kinds of cheese to a cheeseboard, it's best to concentrate your setup around one highlight.
Brie is an excellent option if you're going for a sweeter profile. This incredibly indulgent cheese pairs exceptionally well with stone fruit, such as peaches and apricots or berries and grapes.
Additionally, brie also pairs well with lightly flavored crackers, wafers, and bread. If you're looking to elevate your charcuterie experience, however, adding bright, punchy champagne is the best option.
The brilliant bubbles and punchy acidity offer the perfect contrast to brie's divine creaminess. If you leave out the champagne, your cheeseboard can become too single-note, without any depth. This is a classic food and wine pairing you can never go wrong with.
If you're looking for a luxe meal, you can't go better than a rib-eye steak. No matter what the rest of your menu is, the rib-eye is bound to be the star of the show. So, you will need a classic wine that won't be overshadowed by it. The cabernet sauvignon is one of the most popular wines, and for good reason. This delicious wine is renowned for its complex flavor profile and rich texture.
In contrast with other pairings, this one relies on complementary instead of contrasting flavors. The richness of the rib-eye steak needs something equally robust next to it, and the Cabernet gives you exactly that.
The deep berry flavors, such as huckleberry and blackberry, can help enhance the meatiness of your steak. Although a rib-eye steak would be our prime choice, a Cabernet can go just as well with any other cut, including bone-in steaks.
Picking food and wine pairings may seem tough if you don't know where to start. However, this guide gives a helpful run-down of what wines go best with some of the most classic meals.
Whether you're serving a cheeseboard, smoked meats, or a classic steak, it can help you figure out the perfect pairings. If you want to enhance your culinary experience, these pairings are the way to go.
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