A huge number of people enjoy a glass of wine when out with friends or when enjoying food, but a lot of people are confused when it comes to properly matching food and wine together. Although the whole thing is subjective, hence there’s no absolute right or wrong answers, there are a few general guidelines to which flavours will complement each other.
So to help you compliment your food properly, here’s a quick guide to matching food and wine together. Begining with red wine, here are the most widely drunk red grapes and the best foods to match them with:
Barbera
This is a very nice Italian wine that goes extremely well with tomato-based dishes such as lasagne and spaghetti bolognaise.
Cabernet Sauvignon
A beautiful medium bodied grape that goes brilliantly with roasted meats such as beef or lamb.
Merlot
Merlots go beautifully with roast chicken and will also work with duck or turkey, making them perfect for those Sunday roasts.
Pinot Noir
Another grape that’s more that suitable for Sunday dinners (or Christmas dinners for that matter), these wines will go very well with roast lamb or turkey.
Syrah
A very full bodied wine that are great for the winter months. Goes particularly well with steak and roasted vegetables.
So that should give you an idea of what grape varieties to go for the next time you’re planning on cooking. If you prefer white wines to red, then here’s a little guide to the different grape varieties to help you pick when you’re aiming to buy wine online or in the local shop to impress your next dinner guests:
Chardonnay
Chardonnays go very well with roasted meats such as turkey or chicken, and can also go extremely well with fish.
Sauvignon Blanc
One of the crisper French wines that fit perfectly with chees, particularly goat’s cheese and blue cheese.
Reisling
Reislings go wonderfully with chicken based curries (like kormas) and will also work amazingly well with a Thai green curry.