How much of your meal needs to pair with the wine selection?

WINE TALK
1

I say this knowing in advance that many of y’all are far more particular about wine and food pairings than I am, including frequently advocating not drinking wine at all with a great many things that I find perfectly acceptable with wines (the frequent “just drink beer” comments in almost every “what wine to pair with this food” thread on here).

But here is my question anyway: assuming you have several different foods items during one meal, how much of it has to go with the wine you chose?

For example, you probably wouldn’t say cabernet is a great pairing with steamed carrots and broccoli, but I think few would say cabernet is a bad choice to pair with a big New York strip with a side of steamed carrots and broccoli. On the other hand, maybe if you had New York Strip with a side of jalapeno peppers or something else that is an extremely bad match with cabernet, then that cabernet doesn’t work.

To give an actual example from this board, there was a thread once about what wine to have with Korean barbeque. To me, those are marinated grilled beef and pork, they should work with many BBQ friendly wines, like zinfandel and syrah. But others insisted that you are going to have some side dishes with a lot of garlic, vinegar and/or heat, and so wine wouldn’t work at all.

Another issue is what about a salad or appetizer that precedes your entree. Suppose you and your wife are having dinner at a steakhouse and splitting one bottle of wine (i.e. you aren’t in a situation to open different wines to pair with each course). You’re having steak as your entree, but you’re starting with sliced tomatoes, a wedge salad, a shrimp appetizer, and/or something else that isn’t really a Bordeaux pairing. Are you okay having your Bordeaux with everything, or do you maybe just not drink any of the wine during the short period you are eating your salad or shrimp?

Where do you draw the line? As I mentioned at the beginning, I’m pretty easygoing about it - I love drinking wine, I make a reasonable effort to select suitable pairings, but I don’t worry too much about side dishes, salads, ancillary foods, and so forth. I also am happy to have wine with 95% of foods out there, and I rarely find something so unsuited to wine that I can’t make it work. Also, the majority of the time, I don’t sit and eat for such a long time that that pairing matters is so critical - i.e. the majority of the wine gets consumed before and after the time I’m actually eating anyway. On a weeknight, I might share a bottle with my wife over three hours, but the time from my first to last bite of my entree is 20 minutes. But I’m interested to hear how others approach it.

2

In a restaurant I’m generally looking for a good all-rounder, and at % (rather than flat £ amount) markups, I’m generally looking for something relatively modest. We had a Bojo villages recently for instance that was capable with a wide range of dishes at the table.

At home, if given free choice, I’ll look for a closer match, as we’ll both be having the same dish. However there are many times when we’ll go for a specific wine and as the brains of the operation doesn’t generally start her wine until she’s finished her food, I’ve learnt not to be precious about how well it matches to the food.

3

Hmm…like you, I am not too fussy about the “correct” pairing. I think if I followed all the advice here about what-to-drink-with-what-food, I’d be a teetotaller. I say as long as 50% match, go for it. I wouldn’t drink too much with parts that don’t highlight the wine, though.

4

I agree with Markus. I want something for my palate that will at least accompany/complement the majority of the courses.

I could always just drink Champagne or Loire whites with everything. I drank a Huet with a steak, and they were harmonious.

5

Chris, great question. While ideally I’d have wine to pair with each course, I’m flexible (and becoming more flexible). It used to be such that if I was doing a tasting menu at a BYO joint, I’d insist on bringing 3+ different bottles/half bottles, even if it was just my wife and I, to ensure we had the entire menu covered.

My desire to match my entire meal with wine depends on the circumstance. If I’m cooking a multi-course meal for a group of people, I’m inclined to pair each course. However if it’s just a quiet Sunday dinner at home, and I’m doing salad/appetizer/main, I’ll probably either go with one bottle that roughly works for 2 of the 3 courses (usually the first two courses), and then an additional bottle for the main course.

It also matters who I’m dining with. If I’m with some people that I can geek out with, I’m more inclined to try and match. If I’m with more casual drinkers, then there’s less emphasis.

The specific steakhouse scenario I find interesting. When I’m at a steakhouse and not in a position to have multiple bottles, I’ll tend to get a glass of wine to go with the salad or seafood appetizer, and hold off on the bottle of red until it’s steak time. If the by-the-glass list sucks, then I’ll order a beer/cocktail or hold off altogether until the steak course.

6

The glass.

7

Chris,
Ya know where I stand on this issue. While I appreciate matching food and wine, I would rather drink the wine I like vs trying to do a classical match. Our socal group does Burgundy with Chinese food all the time. Sometimes Bdx. I’ll open anything at anytime with any food. Really depends more on who I’m eating with vs the food on the table. It’s just wine. Or beer. Or sake. Or whisky.

Btw, I think red burgundy goes great with everything.

8

I don’t worry too much about it. Sometimes I like to open something that I think will be a great match and sometimes it actually is, but the truth is that there are few things that are particularly magical. If I’m poaching a mild white fish, or having it with some garlic, capers and white wine, there are many dozens of whites from Spain, Greece, France, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia, British Columbia, Washington, California, South Africa, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere that would work.

But if I feel like red, then that’s what I’m having. With lots of Asian food there isn’t a great red match so I don’t worry too much about it. And since there’s not really a “main” course much of the time, it’s not particularly relevant if the wine doesn’t work with one dish but it kind of works with another.

I don’t worry at all about pairing a salad with wine, particularly if there’s any kind of vinegar involved in the salad. Sometimes nothing pairs with the wine except the roasted potatoes with some salt and herbs, so that’s sometimes perfectly OK.

9

To me food and wine together is where the magic happens. If I was told tomorrow I could no longer have wine with food, my wine consumption would go down to almost nothing. What I love about wine is that it can take something average like grilled chicken and turn it into a special meal. But the food is the key. Wine is just an enhancement to the meal IMO.

In regards to the OP, I mainly focus on the main ingredient when it comes to pairing. I generally don’t cook with a lot of sauces so don’t need to worry about that. I don’t force it though. A lot of food is just better without wine.