I had an interesting discussion with Gerry Klaskala last night. He is the owner and exec chef at Aria in Atlanta.
Gerry is so good at bringing on great food matches that compliment and expound on the wines.
Gerry says he really is less concerned about some of the flavors and most concerned about acidity when it comes to wine and food.
He says that you need a little richness in the dish with higher acidity wines especially whites. He prefers simple sauces with some bacon or cream.
We had a white burg with a scallop that had small pieces of bacon and black truffle. Darn it. That was a great match and the dish was heavenly.
He takes more care with lower acidity wines. They need a little less richness in the sauce and more savory flavors. He even adds just a little acidity to the sauces to lighten them up. We had a 98 Magdelene St Emilion with a duck confit wrapped in a very light pastry. Topped with a small amount of creme fraiche and a sauce that had been lightened with a little lemony acidity. The interplay was perfect.
Nice topic, Don … it’s so tough to get really spot-on pairings of food and wine, I think. But acidity definitely is a key driver for me. With rich dishes, I want acidity to cut through it. That’s why I like Pinot with steak, for example. But you can also get nice matches with specific wines and specific dishes that just seem to evoke one another – Bordeaux and lamb, for example.
Also the geographic pairings can be nice … regional dish, regional wine. I’d like to hear some thoughts from folks on pairings. I find I struggle with it.
I agree that acidity level is a key factor in food matching. Without a certain level of acidity the wine is flabby and usually overwhelmed by the food. That’s why I always describe the wines acidity in my notes.
I don’t have any ‘rules’ or guidelines for food/wine pairing. It’s just that almost fifty years of experience in pairing wines with various foods has given me a good feel for what works and what doesn’t. Over the years I’ve tried lots of different pairings, many successful and some not. I’ve never really worked at pairing; I just try and hope it works. Now I usually get something that’s been successful before. I do still occasionally experiment.
I agree that acidity is key, but one does not necessarily need to choose a higher acid wine when pairing with a rich dish. In some cases, a dish may actually bring out the acidity of a wine that, without food, might seem rather low in acid; the sauce or preparation in these cases are just as important as the protein.
In other cases, I like a wine to match the acidity of the dish. Take pizza, for example. A higher acid wine like Barbera goes great with most pizzas because the acidity of tomato sauce helps to neutralizes some of the acidity of the wine, bringing out the flavors of both more prominently.
I doubt they could cancel each other out. I would think Occam’s Razor applies here in that possibly the acidity is complimenting the dish making it taste better to you.
I highly recommend Dornenberg & Page’s What to Drink with What You Eat. They interviewed a bunch of top sommeliers and chefs about pairings and came up with a two-way index of what works with what that is invaluable. Even better I find are the chapters at the beginning of the book that attack pairings from three perspectives (regional, flavor and structure). The third chapter is very scientific talking about adding salt or acid to balance a dish. I don’t see it as very practical for restauarants (how often is a chef going to listen to a somm to alter a dish for a wine during service) but it could be useful for home chefs.
Greg Harrington has a simple rule of thumb for pairing fish. If the dish could benefit from a squirt of lemon go with a high acid mineral driven wine like Sauv. Bl., Albarino, etc. If the dish could use a pat of butter go with a richer oaked wine like Chardonnay, Viognier, Marsanne, etc.
Personally, I like regional pairings as I enjoy the historical and cultural aspect of the matching. If the perfect match takes you to Tuscany, Provence or the Mosel then that’s a bit of magic. I’m not analytical enough to consider ph and other complex scientific issues (although I’m impressed by those who do.) I also like to match textures of wine and food. Sometimes it’s great to have a high-acid wine to cut through a rich dish and sometimes you want to add another layer of richness and complexity to push a match over the top. It’s always a feel thing based on the dish, the wines you have and what the guest wants.
The thing I don’t get is people who dismiss wine pairings, unfortunately far too common. I think these are usually people who are limited to a certain style of wine that doesn’t work with many foods and they just get used to the wine fighting the food. If you’ve ever had great pairings where the wine and the food keep sending the other to higher and higher levels I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t want to recreate that as often as possible. It’s a lot of fun going to a table knowing you’re about to blow someone’s mind and sometimes change their lives.
You mean sweet 'n sweet equal yum? Honestly, after much trying I don’t really care for sweet wines with sweet food. One or the other please. Too much sugar just overwhelms the palate. There is probably a reason in there as to why Port and Sauternes work so well with a strong cheese like Stilton.
Amen. I’ve been blown away and blown people away. Always fun. I’ve seen what could be good dishes turn GREAT with the right pairing. And wines I probably would not be interested in turn into a pairing made in heaven. That always surprises me the most as I love most foods, but am perhaps more particular (biased?) about wines. So a wine I’m not expecting much from that turns out to be the perfect wine for a dish just floors me.
I love it when a good pairing brings what was a middling wine on Day 1 to greatness on Day 2 … what I love about this is I’m usually entering the situation with low-to-no expectations, as I’m merely finishing the bottle before opening another one. Great surprises are always fun … makes me think of the time I paired a '95 Gruaud Larose with a hamburger/lamb bolognese – i figured the pairing would be heavenly — as it was, the pairing was good-but-not-great … however, I was completely surprised when the wine paired beautifully with grilled asparagus topped with a lemon butter sauce and freshly cracked pepper — go figure.
Honestly, after much trying I don’t really care for sweet wines with sweet food. One or the other please. Too much sugar just overwhelms the palate. There is probably a reason in there as to why Port and Sauternes work so well with a strong cheese like Stilton.![[shrug.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/48636ebda2a440a43ad8d24c83be20ac20c53420.gif "shrug"){kind=small}
