| Knowing the right wine to serve with your food | | | | Sauvignon Blanc. |
| can make a normal meal great, and earn you | | | | 3. Palate Cleansing |
| points with your date, dinner guest, or friends. | | | | Wines contain natural tannins which have an |
| Instead of picking a random bottle off the wine | | | | astringent flavor. This flavor makes your mouth |
| list, taka a few minutes to learn five basics step | | | | pucker when you drink it, and the tannins cleanse |
| to pairing food and wine properly. | | | | your palate of the fats from your food. "Cleansing |
| 1. Balance | | | | your palate" leaves your sense of taste clear and |
| It is always best to pick a wine that balances the | | | | ready to fully enjoy the next bite. This property |
| natural flavors of the food. Spicy, flavorful food | | | | of tannins as a palate cleanser is especially useful |
| should be paired with a spicy, flavorful wine. | | | | in meat and steak dishes, which are higher in fat. |
| Likewise, a mild, neutral dish should be paired with | | | | 4. Dessert Wines |
| a mild, neutral wine. | | | | Make sure the dessert wine is the sweetest |
| Most beef dishes would be considered a fatty, | | | | serving. Don't pair a dessert wine with a food that |
| flavorful dish, so they pair well with charismatic | | | | is sweeter than the wine. For example, avoid |
| red wines like big Cabs and Zinfandels. Rich, | | | | serving a really sweet French apple tart with a |
| creamy pasta sauce would be better suited to | | | | subtly sweet wine. An easy to way to solve this |
| match with a rich chardonnay. | | | | problem is to serve the wine directly after the |
| Use your instinct here. Think about the words you | | | | dessert, rather than with it. |
| would use to describe the food (rich, buttery, | | | | Sauternes (pronounced saw-turn) is the easiest to |
| etc), then pick a wine that has similar | | | | pair when it comes to dessert wine. It is the |
| characteristics. | | | | most versatile, and therefore pairs well with |
| 2. Acidity | | | | everything. Pair sauternes with buttery, salty or |
| Acidic dishes like pasta with tomato sauce pair | | | | fatty foods! |
| well with a wine that is also high in acidity, like a | | | | Wine and chocolate is the easiest wine and food |
| Chianti. However, this same Chianti will overpower | | | | pairing for dessert. Serve dark chocolate with any |
| a mild seafood dish or a rich creamy pasta sauce. | | | | fruity red wine and you will be sure to have |
| So, try to match the acidity level of the wine to | | | | happy guests! |
| the acidity in your food. For fish with an acidic | | | | 5. |
| lemon sauce, try pairing with a similarly acidic | | | | |