Matching Wine And Food: An Overview
A huge number of people in the UK and internationally enjoy a bottle of wine with food or when on a night out with friends, but a lot of those people don't know how to effectively match wine with food so that they compliment each other. Although there are no absolute right or wrong answers, there are some general guidelines when it comes to putting wine and food together.
So to help out with that, here's a quick reference guide to help you effectively match your food and wine. We'll have a look at red grape varieties first, looking at which foods compliment them the best:
Barbera
A beautiful Italian wine that goes extremely well with meals such as spaghetti bolognaise or anything tomato based and Italian.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Wines with a medium or full bodied taste that will always fit nicely with roasted 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
Syrah's are generally full bodies wines that are great during the winter. Goes particularly well with steak and roasted vegetables.
So hopefully that should give you an outline of which foods you can match with your favourite red wines. If you're more of a fan of white wines, here's a guide to help you know which varities to get when you're looking to buy wine online or at the off-license for the next dinner party you're hosting:
Chardonnay
Chardonnays match up perfectly with roasted turkey or chicken and will also fit beautifully with fish dishes.
Sauvignon Blanc
One of the great French wines that goes extremely well with a variety of different cheeses including blue cheese and goat's cheese.
Reisling
Reislings go wonderfully with chicken based curries (like kormas) and will also work amazingly well with a Thai green curry.
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