Proper Food and Wine Pairings

Wine and food should be paired together to bring out the best qualities of both the wine and food. However if a food and wine are paired incorrectly it will create a very unfavorable quality in either the food or wine. Different unfavorable qualities could include but are not limited to bitterness, overly sweet, overly alcohol flavored or metallic.

There are ways to help avoid an incorrect food and wine pairing. Anytime you pair a food and wine together they should contain similar characteristics. For instance a flavorful red wine would be well paired with a thick flavorful porter because both have very strong flavors. You should avoid mixing and pairing food and wines that have dissimilar characteristics. For instance pairing a sweet wine with a steak would create a much undesired effect. Food and wine pairings that are of dissimilar characteristics will cause the meal and wine both to be an unjoyess experience.

Wine can add a brand new element to a dish if paired properly. If you were to take a butter and garlic sauce and pour it over chicken and have that with a glass of any wine that has a citrus taste to it would accent and highlight the flavor of the herb with citrus creating an absolutely delightful meal. Always when pairing wine and food try to find a way to mesh the individual flavors together and make a dish that compliments the wine or vice versa.

Don't forget a few general rules before you go off and start prepping new meals for your wines. Combine wines that have a high alcohol flavor with dishes like barbequed meats and other dishes that have a high flavor range. If a wine is paired with a dish that has a light flavor or taste then the wine will over power the dish and at that point your dinner may as well had been the glass of wine because that’s all you'll taste. Wines high in tannin are paired well with foods high in protein or salt content but would not go well with spicy or sweet foods. When choosing a dessert wine try to avoid mixing a very sweet wine with a very sweet food as it will ruin the experience. Rather pair a mildly sweet wine with a moderate sweet dessert or vice versa to avoid over sweetening your taste buds.

Always remember your taste buds when choosing what to eat and drink in a food and wine pairing. When you sit down to take a sip of wine or bite of food it’s your taste buds that will either be in heaven or hell not mine. So just remember while taking advice is helpful if there is a wine you hate then don't drink it try something else. Make sure to smell and taste the wine and learn about different wines on your own as this will help you figure out better food and wine pairings.
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