2. Wine with food Flashcards
Effects &: purpose of wine with food pairing
- food has an effect on wine and wine can have an effect on how food tastes
- ideally consuming food and wine together provides more pleasure than individual tasting
Consider individual differences (2)
- sensitivities may differ, e.g. bitterness
- different from personal preferences, i.e. some like strong reactions while others don’t
What happens in your mouth when food and wine interact? 2 examples
- the food in your mouth lets taste buds adapt so that perception of levels of sugar, salt, acidity etc may alter
- unpleasant acidity of orange juice after toothpaste
- some foods such as chocolate or thick creamy dishes have mouth-coating effect that can impair sense of taste
Two components in food that make wines taste harder (def?)
- harder: more astringent/bitter/acidic, less sweet/fruity
- sweetness & umami
Two components in food that make wines taste softer (def?)
- softer: less astringent/bitter/acidic, more fruity and sweeter
- salt & acid
Sweetness in food - increases? decreases? conclusions for sweet food?
- increases: bitterness, astringency, acidity, warming effect of alcohol
- decreases: perception of body, sweetness, fruitiness
- select a wine that has a higher level of sweetness than dish
Umami in food - increases? decreases? appearance how? example? easy? tannin examples?
- increases: bitterness, astringency, acidity, warming effect of alcohol
- decreases: perception of body, sweetness, fruitiness
- hard to isolate and often in combination with saltiness (MSG), or cooked/dried mushrooms
- cooked (microwaved) mushroom has much higher umami than raw one
- not easy to combine high umami foods that lack saltiness e.g. aspargus, eggs, mushrooms, ripe soft cheeses
- easy: cured/smoked seafood and meats, hard cheeses are all high in umami but combined with saltiness
- ex: perception of high-tannin reds may not be too much bitterness, while low-tannin reds or white with oak/grape contact can become surprisingly bitter
Acidity in food - increases? decreases? conclusions?
- increases: perception of body, sweetness, fruitiness
- decreases: acidity
- acidity in food is usually good for pairing with food as it can bring a high acidity wine into balance
- however, low levels of acidity in wine can make it seem flat, flabby and lacking focus
Salt in food - increases? decreases? conclusions?
- increases: perception of body in wine
- decreases: perception of astringency, bitterness, acidity
- conclusion: salt is wine-friendly component that enhances wine’s fruit character and soften astringency
Bitterness in food - effect? sensitivity?
- increases perception bitterness of wine
- different between people and components
- usually bitter flavours add to each other, i.e. bitterness in food alone ok, but with wine becoming unpleasant
Chilli head in food - increases (4)? decreases (4)? sensitivity? alcohol effect?
- increases perception of acidity, astringency, bitterness and burning effect of alcohol in wine
- decreases perception of body, richness, sweetness, fruitiness in wine
- warming/burning, sensitivity varies between people
- higher alcohol increases effects
flavour intensity - considerations?
- usually desirable to match flavour intensity of food and wine, so one does not overpower the other
- exceptions, intensely flavoured food (e.g. curry) matches well with lightly flavoured wine (e.g. simple, non-aromatic, unoaked)
acid and fat - considerations?
- most people like combination between acidic wines with fatty food
- pleasant wine “cutting through” the richness of food and cleansing the palate (very subjective effect)
sweet and salty - considerations?
- many people enjoy combination of salty flavours paired with sweeter wine
- ex: sweet wine with blue cheese
applying principles - general recommendations?
- usually people prefer their wines to taste more fruity and less acidic, bitter and astringent
high-risk foods (5)?
- sugar: pair with wine that has at least as much sugar
- umami: enhances astringency&bitterness of tannins, so need concentrated fruit flavours
- umami: can be balanced by adding salt or acid to provide a balance
- bitter: emphasises bitterness in wine, so better whites or low-tannin reds
- chilli heat: pair with whites or low-tannin reds, neither high in alcohol. Also a wine’s fruitiness and sweetness can be reduced therefore consider wines with higher levels of those
low-risk foods (2 - but…)
- high salt and/or acid
- high-acid foods generally also require high-acid wines, otherwise wines can taste too soft and flabby
high-risk wines - general and conclusion? most problematic?
- more structural components in wine (and food), hence more taste interactions
- concl: makes it more difficult but can also be more interesting
- most problematic: bitterness&astringency (tannins) combined with high acidity, alcohol and complex flavours
low-risk wines - general and conclusion? advise? examples?
- simple, unoaked with little sugar
- concl: easy but potentially much less interesting
- advise: look at well-established pairings, understand why they’re successful and apply it.
- ex: Muscadet&Champagne with oysters:
- unoaked: no bitterness that can spoil the umami
- light in flavour: does not overhelm delicate flavour of oysters
- high in acidity: can match the lemon juice acidity
- would also work with Rías Baixas Albarino or Hunter Valley Semillon
Alternative food and wine pairing approaches (4)
- matching and contrasting flavours
- local wine with local food
- red wine with red meat, white wine with fish
- search for perfect match
matching and contrasting flavours - example? what does matching depend on?
- pairing a smoky, spicy, gamey or creamy dish with a smoky, spicy, gamey or creamy flavoured wine may work or not
- it does not depend on matching flavours
- it depends on the interaction between structural components in the food (sugar, fat, salt, etc) and wine (sugar, alcohol, acid, tannin, etc)
local wine with local flavour - why? why not? but?
- successful food and wine pairing likely evolved locally over time
- as regions usually produce a range of wines some basics on pairing is still required
- some great cuisines have no wine production (e.g. Asia)
red wine with read meat, white wine with fish - why? but? (2x each), tricky fish? what to consider?
- tannins in red wine bind to meat proteins
- but: salt content of meat plays more important role to soften tannins
- white fish often high in umami, therefore white wine works better as less bitter and astringent
- but: may be counterbalanced through salt and acid often used for fish
- oily fish with red wine can produce a metallic taste, i.e. safer with white wine
- always consider all structural components of dish (incl sauces!), so red wine may work well with fish and white wine with red meat
perfect match - 4 classic pairings? assumptions? conclusion?
- goat’s cheese with Sancerre
- oysters with Champagne or Muscadet
- Stilton with Port
- olives with Manzanilla
- assumption: for every dish a perfect wine - may not be true
- there’s no objectively perfect pairing as people vary in their sensitivities and preferences!
