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One of the great pleasures of drinking wine is matching it with equally mouth-watering food.
Traditionally, red wine with meat and white with fish are no longer flexible enough to accommodate the multi-cultural taste influences that modern cuisine reflects. Common sense dictates that every wine experience should start with taste. When pairing food and wine, you should keep in mind that you are trying to find balance and harmony – balance between flavours, textures, intensity and taste. To increase your chances of a successful match, consider how the food was prepared, seasoned, the texture and also any accompaniments. Food and wine has its own flavour and texture, so too does every palate. So please use this tool as a guide only. There are no hard and fast rules, rights or wrongs. Just experiment to find your matching ideas.
Tomato
A simple tomato salad, with a light vinaigrette dressing, is best with Sauvignon Blanc. Add advocado and /or mozzarella to the plate and serve with an unoaked or lightly oaked simple Chardonnay or Chardonnay Colombard blend is a good option.
Pasta
Simple and full of vegetables? Try a crisp white like a Sauvignon Blanc, or Unoaked Chardonnay, all these are great matches with pasta salads. Sparkling wine can work here too.
Lobster
A full range of options here. The classic starter dishes are things like Salmon – if its smoked, go for a Riesling, if not stick to a good quality Unoaked Chardonnay. For shellfish and other fish play safe and go with a good quality cool – climate Chardonnay like, Howards Park, Western Australia. The more expensive the fish, the more expensive the wine!
Caeser
The mineral flavours of a Pinot Grigio will enhance if not complement a Caeser Salad or simple green salad. A crisp Riesling or Chardonnay is also a fitting accompaniment to a simple green salad without the trimmings.
Goat's Cheese
Choose a restrained Chardonnay , Sauvignon Blanc, or Blends to capture the taste of the strong goats cheese, serve the salad, slightly warmed.
Couscous
Stick to simple fresh whites, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon blends, light Rose works well here, as it is low in acidity.
Pear & Walnut
A light red such as Merlot can handle the pears in this salad well, The Colombard and Pinot Grigio served with this salad will bring the sourness of the walnut to the fore and enhance the mineral content present in these wines. Semillon, a not so fruity wine will serve well here.
Apple
A fruity Unoaked Merlot is possible here, just avoid tannin. Simple unoaked or lightly oaked whites are the best choices as is an inexpensive dry Rose or Riesling.
Crispy Blue Bacon
A non-tannic young red – a soft Merlot, can partner the blue cheese and bacon that is evident in this salad. Serve clean, refreshing but uncomplicated dry white blends from the latest vintage, ideally unoaked as these work well with the strong flavours of the salad.
Cheese & Pecan
Stick to simple fresh whites, such as Colombard and Semillon blends because the Mozzarella is a mild cheese that does not need a complex wine, the pecan nuts add dimension to the salad which help the overall balance.
Shrimp
Crisp dry whites are the best option here. For shellfish and other fish play safe and go with a good quality cool – climate Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc / blend. Add some soft French cheese then go with a Sparkling blend to bring out the acidity and flavour of cheese.
