2. Wine with food

Question 1

Effects &amp: purpose of wine with food pairing

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

Consider individual differences (2)

Answer 2

• sensitivities may differ, e.g. bitterness

- different from personal preferences, i.e. some like strong reactions while others don’t

Question 3

What happens in your mouth when food and wine interact? 2 examples

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

Two components in food that make wines taste harder (def?)

Answer 4

• harder: more astringent/bitter/acidic, less sweet/fruity

- sweetness & umami

Question 5

Two components in food that make wines taste softer (def?)

Answer 5

• softer: less astringent/bitter/acidic, more fruity and sweeter
• salt & acid

Question 6

Sweetness in food - increases? decreases? conclusions for sweet food?

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

Umami in food - increases? decreases? appearance how? example? easy? tannin examples?

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

Acidity in food - increases? decreases? conclusions?

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Salt in food - increases? decreases? conclusions?

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

Bitterness in food - effect? sensitivity?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Chilli head in food - increases (4)? decreases (4)? sensitivity? alcohol effect?

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

flavour intensity - considerations?

Answer 12

• 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)

Question 13

acid and fat - considerations?

Answer 13

• 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)

Question 14

sweet and salty - considerations?

Answer 14

• many people enjoy combination of salty flavours paired with sweeter wine
• ex: sweet wine with blue cheese

Question 15

applying principles - general recommendations?

Answer 15

• usually people prefer their wines to taste more fruity and less acidic, bitter and astringent

Question 16

high-risk foods (5)?

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

low-risk foods (2 - but…)

Answer 17

• high salt and/or acid

- high-acid foods generally also require high-acid wines, otherwise wines can taste too soft and flabby

Question 18

high-risk wines - general and conclusion? most problematic?

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

low-risk wines - general and conclusion? advise? examples?

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Alternative food and wine pairing approaches (4)

Answer 20

• matching and contrasting flavours
• local wine with local food
• red wine with red meat, white wine with fish
• search for perfect match

Question 21

matching and contrasting flavours - example? what does matching depend on?

Answer 21

• 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)

Question 22

local wine with local flavour - why? why not? but?

Answer 22

• 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)

Question 23

red wine with read meat, white wine with fish - why? but? (2x each), tricky fish? what to consider?

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

perfect match - 4 classic pairings? assumptions? conclusion?

Answer 24

• 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!