How To Serve The Right Wine With The Right Food

Serving the right wine with the right food is important for any hostess. Deciding on the menu is obviously the first step, then planning the wine to serve with it is the second. The question often arises why can’t we just serve any wine with the meal? Research shows that some wines served with some foods make the taste better, while the incorrect wine served can make things taste bad. The correct wine also assists with the digestion process of certain foods and interferes with others, researchers say.

Generally speaking, heavy, warm wines should be served with heavier foods with a higher fat content. Foods with a higher fat content tend to coat the tongue with that fat and the complimentary wine will cut through that coating to enhance the flavor of the food as well as enhance the flavor of the wine.

Foods that are more acidic should be paired with more acidic lighter wines. Try to pair the wine to the food by considering the food first, the wine second. Meats such as steak should be paired with a heavy red wine, while lighter meats such as fish should be paired with a lighter white wine or champagne.

To help understand the proper pairing of the right wine with the right food, it’s best to think about the tastes of the food and select a wine with similar tastes. Foods such as red meat and potatoes are best served with a heavy red wine while fish served with a salad with vinaigrette dressing is better served with the lighter white wines with a more acidic flavor.