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Wine Pairing Made Easy
Selecting wine to serve with various foods does not need to be endlessly complicated. Some aficionados with cellars of aging rare vintages may be looking for more detailed options, but this guide is designed to help more casual wine lovers find a good bottle that suits their tastes and enhance their enjoyment of food and wine together.
Find Dry White Wines
Food Flavor Basics
Many available wine pairing guides have lots of food categories, but we find that good choices can be made by matching wines to foods with a few major taste profiles. Instead of 8-12 categories, we’re going to talk about 4: mild, rich, intense, and sweet foods. Pairing wines based on these will help most people find a wine to match the menu.
Mild
Mildly-flavored foods include soft cheeses, white fish, lightly seasoned poultry, and starches such as pasta in a light sauce.
Rich
Richly-flavored foods include salmon and similar fish, red meats, fattier foods, and many hard cheeses.
Intense
Intensely-flavored foods include heavily seasoned and spicy dishes, and foods with strong, more noticeable flavors.
Sweet
Sweet-flavored foods include desserts and pastries, as well as foods prepared with sweet sauces, glazes, or sweet ingredients.
Harmony VS Contrast
Congruent Pairing
Many wine resources refer to wines that share many flavor compounds with the food as congruent. These pairings tend to amplify the shared flavors.
We use the term Harmony to help you find wines that go along nicely with foods and reinforce the taste experience.
Complementary Pairing
When referring to wines that have few shared flavor components with those of the food, wine resources mention complementary pairing.
We use the term Contrast to help you find wines that will create a balance of different tastes in the wine and food.
Food
Category
Harmony or Contrast?
Wine
Suggestions
Find wines that match your menu and preferences by choosing to harmonize or contrast with any food category. It’s that simple.
You can futher narrow the list of suggested wines by other factors, to find the perfect wine for the occasion.
Ready?
Start choosing wines to accent and enhance your dining experience.
