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Wednesday 23 July  

 Food & wine matching tips for Singles

 
food and wine matching from winedaterFirst dates can be nerve racking enough without having to choose the correct wine to go with your meal. Most people either go for the second wine on the list as they don’t want to look like cheapskates but they don’t want to pay too much either. Or they pick something that they know but could be a completely wrong match for the food.
 
The following are a few basic principles that will assist you in choosing the right wine for your meal at the same time as impressing your date!
 
 
the basics
 
1. Match colour with colour
2. Match the strongest flavours
3. Match salty foods with light white wines or dry pale sherry
4. Match spicy foods with ripe fruit-packed wines
5. Match smoky foods with ripe fruit wines
6. Match sweet foods with a wine that is sweeter
7. Match acidity with acidity; match acidity with oily foods
8. Match tannin with protein
 
 
1. Matching colour with colour is a very usual rule to follow and one that is easy to remember. Match the colour of the food with the colour of the wine. Light coloured foods such as chicken and pork are best matched with white wines. Dark coloured meats are best matched with rich, deep coloured red wines
 
 
2. The strongest flavour on the plate should dicate the wine choice, superceding rule 1, e.g. a rich chicken and bacon casserole may be better matched with a rose wine or a light to medium red.
 
 
3. Salty foods such as seafood are best matched with light bodied white wines. If you are in a tapas bar try a fino sherry or manzanilla which goes amazingly with olives and salted almonds. Salty foods make tannins more intense and overpowering, so avoid tannic wines with saltiness.
 
4. Spicy food affect wines by enhancing oak flavours and reducing any sweetness produced from the fruit.  Wines that best match spicy foods are those that have loads of ripe fruit and that are slightly oaked or unoaked, e.g. New World unoaked Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, Riesling or Merlot.
 
 
5. Smoky foods. You should consider the range of the food's smokiness. Salmon, for example is lightly smoked, which goes well with Champagne, wheras haddock or BBQ chicken can be medium-smoked which best suit a wine that has plenty of ripe fruit. Ribs tend to be strongly flavoured barbecued meat which needs something rich and weighty to stand up to the flavour, e.g. American Zinfandel or Australian Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon.
 
 
6. Sweets and desserts should always be matched with a wine that is sweeter otherwise the wine can seem much drier that it actually is. Sweet wines can also be paired with some cheese and pates.
 
 
7. Acidic foods, for example tomatoes, are best matched with wines that also have high levels of acidity so you may like to opt for an Italian wine. Wines with high levels of acidity are good for cutting through foods that are quite oily and fatty so a crisp fresh Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio will go very well with the oiliness of lamb.
 
 
8. Tannin levels in red wine vary; this is the element of the wine that makes your mouth seem dry. This mouth drying effect is reduced by protein in foods which therefore makes the wine seem less astringent.  Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz based wines go really well with rich, meaty dishes.  Try to avoid oily fish with highly tannic wines as they can result in a metallic tasting mouthful.
 
Top tips for wine tasting and WineDater's drinks cabinet have more drinks information.
 

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