Perfect Pairings… How to Match Wine to any Meal or Occasion

January 24th, 2010  |  Published in Wine Club

In Australia and in countries all around the world, wine is an integral component of many dining experiences. Wine sales in Australia have grown steadily over the last 10 years with over 430 million litres consumed in a typical year. When dining, donâ??t reach for just any wine and hope it fits the meal, as wine is like food in this mannerâ?¦particular choices go better together when it comes down to taste or blending flavours.

Wine is a drink that is meant to complement a meal which means it should complete it. You donâ??t want to savour the flavours of your food and then overwhelm the experience with the wrong wine choice. Equally, you donâ??t want to mix flavours that are confusing to the palate. For example, a sweet dessert wine would not be served with a steak or pasta.

Blending Individual Tastes With Wine

Of course, every one has preferences so the traditional wine and food pairings are not etched in stone. However, there are certain guidelines you should learn before you begin to experiment while seeking your own serving style.

The reason it is necessary to become familiar with the guidelines is so you are able to learn how to match particular wines with particular foods no matter what you decide to prepare or order in a restaurant. You can then vary from these guidelines to meet your individual tastes without creating a chaos of flavours.

Guidelines for Palate Delights
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There is one overriding pairing guideline that starts the pairing process. The paired wine and food should make each taste better. In other words, there should be balance achieved in terms of the following:

* Intensity
* Flavours
* Weight
* Aromas

This may sound like a difficult accomplishment, but there are some ground rules you can begin with in order to achieve a balanced.

First you should achieve harmony between the wine and food flavourings. If you food is going to be spicy or tangy you would choose a wine with high acidity so the food flavour does not overwhelm the wine flavour. If your dish is salty, you would also choose an acidic wine.
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Meat dishes, on the other hand, work better with dark and fruity wines because the tannins will dry the mouth and the meat juices will keep the mouth moist. Sweet wines, or dessert wines, go well with sugary and rich desserts because of both their flavour and weight.
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You should also consider how the food has been cooked before choosing your wine. If your food is fried, roasted, or braised you will choose a heavier flavoured and bodied wine than you would if the food has been broiled.

You also want to consider the type of meal you are eating. Heavy pasta dishes with tomato based sauces will work best with a heavy bodied red wine. Fish or chicken dishes are better eaten with a lighter, white wine. The body of your wine choice should complement the intensity of the food flavours. You can think in terms of light wine goes with light flavoured food, while heavy wine goes with heavy flavoured food.
When it comes to cheese the pairings can be a little unusual. There are many different kinds of cheeses and cheese often has a very strong taste. A sharp and/or hard cheese pairs well with a red wine. Sweet wine flavours can balance the taste of cheeses that are intense. Soft cheeses pair best with a wine that has higher acidity.
On Occasion
The occasion where wine will be served usually influences the choice of wine based on price after matching the meal. You would use the wine pairing guidelines for the meal and then consider the occasion. For example, you would serve a red wine with prime rib roast, but might decide to purchase a more expensive wine if the food is being served at a wedding or celebration.
Enjoy Your Flavours!
In the final analysis, you need to enjoy the taste in your mouth when you eat the food and drink the wine. The guidelines are not etched in stone, and your personal preference will be the final determining factor. If it works for you, then the balance is right!

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Tags: Match, meal, Occasion, Pairings…, perfect, Wine

A Wine for Every Meal – What Goes Well Together?

January 23rd, 2010  |  Published in Wine

Choosing a bottle of wine to have with dinner may seem like a good idea, the trouble is that some people buy the wrong wine and can have a sad effect on your dinner party. The trouble with drinking wine with meals, much like any drink, is that the flavours in the food you’re eating can be washed away or clash with the drink you have with the meal. Some people may not pay much attention to their choice of wine with a meal, in many cases it can be whatever the buyer wants to spend that determines the bottle of wine that is sat on the dinner table.

Sometimes you need to look past the price tag though, some more expensive wines could taste a bit off with your meal where a cheaper bottle may have complimented the meal perfectly. There are plenty of sources of information on what wines go best with any particular meal; there are even “dessert wines” that work well with some desserts. So after understanding that some wines can make or break your meal the second step is to know what goes well with your chosen meal.

A lot of wine bottles will have their usual flowery description on the side of the bottle and inform you of exactly what type of food the wine goes well with. For others though we have to either find out for ourselves through experimentation or advice. A common piece of advice is if you are serving lighter meats such as pork or chicken then it is best to opt for a lighter wine, such as a Riesling, as some stronger wines have such an overpowering effect that you would lose the delicate flavours of the actual food.

Wine doesn’t always over power meals though, when eating steak or pasta dishes a dark wine such as a Merlot can really help draw out a lot of flavours that you wouldn’t have experienced had you ate the food on its own. In the end you’ll have likely spent a lot of time and care preparing the meal, you don’t want all your hours of effort to be wasted because of the choice of wine that you bring to the table.

It is advisable to find out what you want to eat; from there you can narrow down the wine to get making your trip to the shops much easier. It’s important to remember that not all people’s tastes are alike and that these tips are a general guide, part of the fun of enjoying wine is being able to experiment and try new and exciting wines.

If you want to save time then buy wine online or buy beer online to make sure you get exactly what you want at your next dinner party

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/a-wine-for-every-meal-what-goes-well-together-1767349.html

Tags: meal, Wine

How to Select the Best Wine for a Meal

November 18th, 2009  |  Published in Wine

It is really hard to deny the fact that wine is a wonderful accompaniment to almost any meal. Today many people actually enjoy a glass of wine along with dinner, although unfortunately there are many of those who are really not well aware of how to select a wine for their meal. In most of the cases, you may find an individual having one wine that he or she likes and drinks it with everything. It may sound easy for you, but by drinking any wine an individual misses out delightful experience, because each wine balance different food item in a special or unusual way. As a result, it is important to understand to understand that drinking and selecting wine for a meal does count. You must note that a proper selection of wine for a meal can open up a whole new culinary experience for you.

Generally, the basic rule of thumb, which many people or every beginner know, is that red wine goes with red meat and white wine goes well white meat. This idea is not always true. Being stringent with the rule can take out all the joy of choosing a good wine you truly enjoy. Rather you counterpart the taste of a wine with the color of the meat a better idea would be to counterpart the concentration of the wine along with the intensity of the meat. As an example a deep or thoroughly-bodied red wine can easily do well with lamb chops or a juicy steak. If you or your guest is having lighter meals than a selection of a white wine could also be a better idea. Ultimately, the important point to understand is that the intensity of flavoring in your meal is best complemented by a wine with an equally intense taste.

Another good thing that you must consider before selecting the wine for a meal is to think about the dish you are thinking about ordering or cooking. In fact, a small consideration regarding the way it is cooked or the various spices that are added can help make a proper selection. This small consideration can easily help you choose a wine that can complement to those elements or contrasts and ends up with far more intense flavors and tastes.

Apart from this, another way of determining the perfect wine for a meal can be by tasting the taste of the wine, rather than its color. Usually a wine has two very different types of tastes, mainly the acidity level of the wine, and the sweetness level of the wine. As a result, it is always better to choose a wine that matches the sweetness in the food. For instance, fruit and cheese are two types of food that are often paired with wine. So, the best thing that you can do is that when you have fruit or meal, which contains high levels of both sugar and acid, pair it with a sweet wine that has a high acidity level. On the other side, if you have food that is heavily spiced a wine that has a low sweetness rating but a higher acidity level can surely a better selection.

Matching wine with food is not an exact science, but just by following few important and basic principles you can be well on track to discover that perfect match.

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/wines-and-spirits-articles/how-to-select-the-best-wine-for-a-meal-1472731.html

Tags: best, meal, select, Wine

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