Food and wine pairing: a research for the right balance

Are you going to plan the menu for a dinner with friends, but you don’t know which is the best wine pairing? Matching food and wine perfectly is essential to enhance the characteristics of both.

How do you choose the right wine for each course?

You should know that there are different schools of thought in food and wine pairings. For example, the English School favours individual choice (therefore based on subjective taste); there is also a French School which, on the contrary, lays down strict criteria for choosing wines for pairing. Finally, the Italian School follows a method that we will call “sensory”, seeking balance in the pairing.

By studying wine pairings, the Italian School takes into account the characteristics of the food and contextualizes them. There are consequently different types of food and wine pairings: traditional pairings (think about the tradition of the hilly area of Veneto, i.e. chestnuts with Verdiso Veneto IGT) or psychological pairings (the famous oysters and champagne for special occasions), pairings that we could define as thematic or curious. The Mercadini method is based on concordance or contrast of flavours.

In any case, pairing the right wine with each course allows you to ‘clean the mouth’ and be sure that, at every sip the wine matches harmoniously with the food, allowing you to fully enjoy the different dishes.

Before moving on to wine pairings, you should know that there are some foods that are difficult to pair with wines. Fresh fruit, for example, some vegetables tend towards bitterness such as artichokes, tomatoes salads because of their acidity, and unfortunately, ice cream and chocolate.

Now, let’s take a look at some possible food and wine pairings:

Do you want to start with puff pastry appetisers or light fish starters? An organic Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG is the right choice. Brut or Extra Dry bubbles go perfect with the softness of these dishes and then they clean the mouth preparing it to taste first courses. On the other hand, if you are going to welcome your guests with a flan made with seasonal vegetables, a pink bubble such as Afra Prosecco DOC Rosé is perfect, because it complements the delicate flavours without prevailing over them.

Will you then move on to a vegetarian risotto or pasta? Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC is the wine for you. A still, smooth white wine. If the sauce is made with fish, it is better to pair it with a drier even sparkling wine. We suggest Genesis Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG Extra Brut.

Which wine should be paired with the main course? If you opted for a fish main course, the choice will fall on a dry, slightly fruity white wine, which could be Verdiso Veneto Igt by Perlage: with its light bubble, it is excellent with a fried dish.

Have you opted for meat? If you are going to prepare chicken or veal, you can choose a young, light red wine such as Borgo Faveri Rosso Biodinamico, while if you are cooking more demanding dishes, such as grilled or stewed meat, it is better to choose a more structured red wine, perhaps one that has been aged for a little.

Which is the right combination with dessert? There are many types of dessert, but as a general rule we recommend accompanying this last course with a sparkling or a still, soft, sweet wine. If you are a bubble-lover like us, an Extra Dry sprakling wine will do the trick.