HOW TO PAIR FOOD AND WINES

It can be a little overwhelming figuring out what wines to pair with your food. Here are some tips on how to pick the best wine with your favorite dish.

Beef


Simple Roasted Grilled

  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Merlot
  • Red Boudreaux
  • Shiraz
  • Zinfandel

In a sauce

  • Chateauneuf-du-Pape
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Shiraz
  • Zinfandel

Braised

  • In red wine (match with the same red wine)
  • Osso Bucco –  Amorone
  • Brunelle di Montalicione
  • Chateauneuf-du-Pape
  • Peppery spice – red Zinfandel

Acidic Sauce

  • Match acid with acid
  • Chianti

Eastern (China, India, Japan)

  • Off-dry Gewürztraminer or Riesling
  • (Chinese or Indian)

Veal

  • Rich savory manner good with Barolo,
  • Brenello di Montalicino, Bordeaux, Cabernet, Merlot or event a Cotes du Rhone

Poultry

Chicken in a cream sauce

  • Chardonnay or full White Burgundy

Chicken – Fried

  • Lean Sauvignon Blanc
  • Chardonnay (may not be as refreshing)

Chicken – Roast

  • Chardonnay or White Burgundy
  • If you like red, try Riaja, Pinot Noir or Red Burgundy

Chicken (Tomato, Spicy, Smokey)

  • Smokey & Spicy – Cabernet
  • Sauvignon
  • Tomato – Chianti, Rosso di Montalcino or Rioja
  • Spicy – Gewürztraminer or dry-off Riesling

Duck or Game Bird

  • Medium-bodied, flavorful Pinot Noir
  • Red Burgundy
  • Rioja (good with squab or quail)
  • Eastern (China, India, Japan)
  • Off-dry Gewürztraminer or Riesling (Chinese or Indian)
  • Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc (Japan)

Fish

Full Flavor or Rich Sauce

  • Flavor fish with rich butter sauce –  Chardonnay

Mild Flavor or Lemon Sauce

  • Sauvignon Blanc

Salmon

  • Red – Pinot Noir or Burgundy
  • White – Pinot Gris or Chardonnay

Caviar

  • Dry Champagne

Crustacean

Crab

  • Dry Riesling

Lobster

  • Chardonnay
  • Corton-Charlemagne
  • Brut Champagne or other Brut Sparkling Wine
  • Vouvroy is good as well

Oysters

  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Chablis
  • Champagne

Shrimp

  • Light acidic manner Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio
  • Substantial Sauce – Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay
  • Cocktail Sauce – off-dry Riesling or Gewürztraminer

Scallops

  • Clean, rich Chardonnay

Pasta

Red Tomato Based

  • Chianti
  • Sangiovese
  • Zinfandel
  • Dolcetto

Lasagna

  • Barolo
  • Barbaresco
  • Riserva
  • Chianti
  • Montepluciano d’Abruzzo
  • Rossi di Montepulciano
  • Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
  • Other Italian Reds

Cream Sauce

  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • Light Italian Chardonnay
  • Pinot Grigio

With Light Fish

  • Pinot Grigio
  • Sauvignon Blanc

Dessert

Apple Based Desserts

  • Sauternes

Chocolate

  • Brachetto D’Acqui
  • Asti Spumanti, Muscat
  • Moscato d’Asti
  • Port

Cheese

  • Port (Stilton Cheese)
  • Sauternes (Blue Cheese)
  • Amarone (Parmegiano Reggiano)

Keep in mind that foods go well with wines where they initiated from so if you are having French food a French acid wine would go best. Additionally, wines and hot spices do not go well together; wine survives better on the palate with a little sweetness.

At the end of the day if you are unsure about what wine to pair with your favorite dish the best rule of thumb is to drink what you like!

Food and Wine Pairing. (2007). Retrieved July 15, 2012 from www.foodandwinepairing.org.

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About Annette Naif:

Since 1986 Annette Naif has been designing and producing custom events, helping clients create their unique style that translates into a memorable and profitable experience. Annette spent 17 years producing events in the motion picture industry where she helped coordinate numerous productions for film and episodic television programs. Since then Annette’s been running her own event production company, coaching other event planners, teaching an event operations and production course at NYU, and now is the CEO & Creative Director of Naif Productions.

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