Wine and Food

There are die-hard conservatives who take care to observe the strict tried-and-trusted traditional rules, by which a wine must be paired with foods that have been prepared in a certain manner. Then come the modernists, who, not knowing the previously tried-and-tested culinary delights, preach food and wine matching combinations as their taste buds command, as long as their sense of fantasy and taste is being sated.

However, a basic set of rules for the study of harmony in the culinary arts does exist. Let us try and revise a few of them, some of which you are perhaps familiar with. You will then be better able to make your choice of wine according to your personal taste:

• Acidic + acidic adds up. Acidic food with acidic wine will come across as aggresive, as acids taste metallic.
• Acidity + fatty foods. Acidic wines dissolve the greasiness and the result is quite pleasing.
• Acidity + alcohol + spices. Acidity with alcohol increase the pungency of the spiciness.
• Acidity + sweetness. Stand up well to each other and increase the vigour of the dish.
• Tannins + salt. Mutual enemies, cannot stand one another and cause a confusion of tastes.
• Salt + sweetness. Do not entirely come to terms, but the sensation softens.
• Tannins and sweetness. Tannic food and sweet wine complement one another nicely.
• Bitterness + acidity. Do not go together as they increase the sensation of bitterness.
• Tannins + fatty foods. Suitable combination. They neutralise each other.
• Sweetness + sweetness. Harmonious combination. The impression of sweetness does not increase, in fact it is lowered if the wine is sweeter than the food.
• Bitterness + tannins. Tannic wine increases the bitterness of the dish. The only exception is a combination of walnuts with a youthful red wine.
• Tannins + smokey tones. The bitterly tannic taste of young red wines, which would be unpleasant when combined with other dishes, will be eliminated in the company of smoked or grilled foods.
• Smokiness + acidity. Only wines that have well-rounded acidity or oak ageing in barriques with high toasting.

Examples of mutual accord between food and wine

• Light wines - light food. Food which is not heavily spiced and contains little fat (fish, lean poultry, other white meat) is best combined with dry kabinet-type wines - Sylvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Blauer Portugieser.
• Heavy foods - full wines. The fattier the foods (streaky pork, bacon, oily fish, dishes with mayonnaise) the more they need a higher level of alcohol and extract in the wine – e.g. late-harvest wines or quality wines with a higher alcohol content. Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Neuburger, Kerner, Pinot Noir, Dornfelder.
• Spicy foods - full and expressive wines. Dry and intense on the palate, alternatively mature reds from Blaufränkisch/Lemberger, Pinot Noir, Saint Laurent, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes would marry well with roast beef, steaks, lamb, game.
• Sweet foods, sweet wines. Sweet dishes are far better combined with mature sweet wines that are sweeter than themselves, otherwise the wines would taste rather tart.

Wine Consumption

On average every Czech citizen consumes some 20.1 litres of wine per year. This means that over the past 20 years there has been an increase of around one third, while over the past 10 years the increase is approximately one quarter. The European average totals around 36 litres per person per year.

Procedure for Serving Food and Wine

Aperitif

The function of the aperitif is to draw out the special moment in a mundane day, to stimulate the sense of expectation before the arrival of the next anticipated event, to tantalise the taste buds, tune the company, but not to satiate. On a hot day: wine spritzer with mineral water or else well-chilled sweet wine. On a chilly day: dry white sparkling wine or a dry white wine with a higher alcohol content.

Soup

Soup, unsweetened, spicy

• old mature wines or grape brandy

Spring vegetable soup

• light, fruity wines, such as Müller-Thurgau, Sylvaner, Grüner Veltliner

Cream Soup

• mature Neuburger, Pinot Blanc

Starter

A starter should prolong the anticipation of the main course and retain a certain sense of suspense. It should not be too hearty and so one should serve light, white wines - most suitable are dry white wines to quench the thirst, which is usually greater at the outset of the meal. The exception here is a heavy starter such as foie gras. This we would associate with an aperitif and serve with a naturally sweet wine (special selection of berries and so on).

Main course

Fish

• baked, braised – dry white wines
• smoked, or in cream sauce – white wines of late-harvest type
• grilled, fried, or with a distinctive-tasting sauce – mature dry white wines or lighter red wines
• eel – light red wines
• sea fish – white wines (since sea salt and red wine would give a bitter taste)

Meat dishes

The old rule "white wine with white meat and red wine with dark meat" is valid WHEN the meat is cooked in a very delicate manner and the taste of the dark meat is highly pronounced. BUT the combination may vary depending on the way the dish is cooked:

• meat without a sauce – wine to suit the taste of the meat
• meat with a sauce – wine to suit the taste of the sauce
• braised or boiled meat – dry white wine
• meat on the grill, lean – white late-harvest wine
• meat on the grill or roasted in the oven, fatty – very full white wines, blush or rosé wines, light red wines
• mutton, game – deep red wines, richly tannic
• meat with a rich vegetable garnish – lighter wines than those paired with the type of meat itself
• smoked meats on a wooden platter – rustic white or red country wine

Cheese

• fresh – light white wines, for example Müller-Thurgau, Sylvaner, Grüner Veltliner
• buttery cheeses, cheese patés – Neuburger, blush or rosé wines
• cheeses with white mould – light, dry wines from Pinot Gris
• sliced cheeses – very full and round white wines, blush or rosé wines, light Pinot Noir
• cheeses with dark mould – mature red wines, though not too tannic, special selection of berries
• cheeses having a very distinctive taste – rich and well-structured tannic red wines

Food is a necessity, but matching it with wine is an art. Creativity is on your side. We wish you many wonderful ideas, plenty of inspiration and a fortunate hand in your wine selection. Do not, though, forget our fine Moravian and Bohemian wines.

Author: Professor Vilém Kraus, CSc.