When pairing wine with food you should follow the rules—except when you shouldn’t

Following (Mostly) the Rules

There are rules about pairing food with wine, but transgressions are non-punishable and sometimes even enjoyable.

I recently commented on the powerful pleasure that results when those rules are successfully followed, in discussing a dinner where the wine and food were exquisitely matched. On the other hand, I frequently counsel that the major concern for most of us is simply our own taste. We should drink wines that please us.

After a reader questioned me about this apparent contradiction I realized that one does not exclude the other. It’s more a continuum ranging from the ideal to the practical. At prearranged wine dinners hosted by restaurants or wine professionals, we should expect the ideal. After all, these are the people whose business it is to think through the wine choices. If they can’t put together a perfect or nearly perfect match, then maybe the whole theory is flawed. Similarly, when we dine at a restaurant and take the recommendation of a sommelier or knowledgeable server we should expect a high standard. Perhaps not infallibility, but certainly something that on most counts is correct. And for formal meals at home—whether you are host or guest—that standard applies.

But for everyday meals or less planned and polished dinners at home, we have a lot more latitude in our choices. Some wines will clearly be better choices than others in a gustatory sense, but experimentation, mood, availability, setting, season, time and a whole range of circumstances come into play. So the best wine for that moment may not always be the theoretically best match. In other words, pair the wine with the people and the environment as well as the food. Be relaxed in your approach. Like anything else, if you worry too much about it you’ll never enjoy it. It is not a minefield out there. There are a few egregious errors you can make—but not too many. There are rules, but they need not be slavishly followed and what ultimately counts is whatever satisfies.

Should you serve red wine with fish? You can but be careful about both. The tannins in red wine just do not combine well with most fish and deliver a metallic taste sensation. (That can also happen in combination with some cheeses.) One easy guideline: be tannin-conscious with any food on which you might squeeze a lemon. Such foods will pair best with acidic white whites. Salmon and to some extent swordfish and tuna, offer some wiggle room, and depending on how they are prepared, can taste fine with a light bodied red.

Salads, with their vinegary dressings can be another hurdle. If you are already drinking a fresh, non-oaked white at that point in the dinner, by all means continue. Otherwise just stop drinking for a few minutes or slow down and nurse along whatever is in your glass. Desserts can be difficult matches. Sweet desserts overwhelm the drier wines we drink with savory dishes, and I find pairing desserts with a sweet wine can be a sugar overload. I usually skip wine with this course or sparsely sip the dinner wine left in the glass. A sweet wine is an unqualified treat after the meal or as a substitute for the dessert course.

These, to me, are the major trouble spots. On the cheerful side, I can think of a whole world of combinations, some classic, some unconventional, that in the forgiving way of the grape, make for good eating and good drinking.

Here are a few truly sensible combinations to remember. Red meats pair well with red wines. Steak seems to invite a big, fruity wine like a California cabernet sauvignon. Stews, more subdued in taste, are great with subtler wines like a Bordeaux style blend or a pinot noir. White meats such as poultry, pork and veal are happily versatile. Think about the ingredients in the dish, and let that guide you. For Asian dishes and foods with spice notes, try a cabernet franc or a gewürztraminer. Another sensible approach is to look at regional sources. If your food is based on a national cuisine, try a wine of that country, an Italian sangiovese for example with pasta.

If you are invited to a big league wine dinner, luxuriate in the planned perfection of great food and wine matches. But for easy, stress-free, daily consumption, just avoid the obviously bad matches, and have some fun experimenting with and discovering combinations that appeal to your taste buds. Be a conformist or a rebel according to your instinct.