Today, wine is more accessible and abundant than ever before. Gone are the days when only the finest mom and pop spirit stores carried a select offering of wines, offering one on one personalized service. And to that, eliminate the aged belief that sommeliers or cellar managers were the only ones who could pair wines, the task too complex for the mortal man.

Wines of nearly any varietal, be it domestic or international and price category, can be located at local spirits establishments, at discount powerhouses such as Costco or Trader Joes or even through the internet. While easy access to domestic and international wine is a boon to buyers, it also presents a dizzying array of choices that borders on the overwhelming, leading some people to retreat to safe, simple and predictable wine and food pairings (a domestic Cabernet with a steak, for example).

As well, you have only to dine locally at Janos to understand how modern chefs have blown the roof off of conventional dishes, offering new and creative cuisine unfamiliar to us only 20 years ago. Who, but Janos would have dared to offer dishes such as lamb with mole sauce, Oaxacan Barbarcoa Lamb tamale, and Barbarcoa soup or spicy lamb tongue taco? While cuisine preparation used to focus upon the core dish itself, such as steak or seafood, today it is more likely to be about seasonings, sauces and styles of preparation that drive the dish and in turn, influence the choices of wines. It’s not at all uncommon for today’s cuisine to be innovatively spiced or sauced with international flavors never entertained in the past. Globalization has weaved its magic into the world of cuisine and wine and in the end, it is all to the benefit of our palates.

With such diversity of wine and food pairings available and time for meals at a higher premium than ever before, how does one even begin to maximize the pairing strategies? Hopefully, this series of articles will begin to approach this question and in the end provide some useful guidance.

You’re Smarter Than You Realize

Many people think that wine and food pairings are shrouded in mystery. So it’s not so surprising that we retreat to predictable and what we consider to be time honored matches….you know them………reds with meat, whites with fish. However, if you consider that you have been mixing and matching foods and beverages for a good part of your life and that this experience along with your innate preferences has “groomed” your palate, you are further along than you appreciate. You have been “pairing” milk and cookies practically forever, probably hamburgers and hotdogs with sodas as well. And I’ll bet that you didn’t find it too complex to pair that hamburger with milk shakes and frappes. Or how about that wonderful pizza with beer, soda or lemonade? The point here, is that you already have a lifetime of food and beverage experience. Now it’s time to build upon that.

Know Thyself

I have a couple of acquaintances who are stuck on California Cabernets as their reds. Any suggestion to sample alternatives is met with clear discomfort and uncertainty. They know what they like and that’s that. It’s “safe” in their minds. I know of a sommelier who shared with me that he has many customers who simply ask for a big name red to pair with whatever they are ordering for dinner….makes no difference if the cuisine is a hearty steak or flaky white fish. They know what they like, make it the center of their dining experience, and he feels (rightfully so) that it’s his job to please them. He approaches his task with a degree of simplicity. He sizes up his group, listens to their preferences and then tries to pair the wine with the person first and the food second. While this approach may seem to defeat the concept of pairing the wine with food, what good does it do to pair the perfect wine with a dish, only to have it rejected it because it’s out of their “comfort zone?”

On the other end of the spectrum, I prefer to keep my options wide open when it comes to pairing wines with food and have no objection to digging into something yet untried. When dining at a local restaurant, I encourage the sommelier or cellar manager to alert me to new and interesting wines. I always enjoy searching out untried producers in hopes that I might discover a new gem. That’s not to say that, sometimes, the time honored approach is not a great alternative. I devoured a thick porterhouse steak a few weeks back with a top California Cabernet. Since I don’t drink the wine much, I forgot how wonderful that pairing can be. The point here is that your wine:food pairing experience will be much more enjoyable if you can identify whether you are a “risk taker” or a “traditionalist.”

Growing Old Together

While some 70% of the wine consumed in the US is domestic and nearly 80% of that from California, it’s easy to loose sight of the fact that Europeans have been growing grapes, producing wine and pairing it with regional foods for many centuries and in some cases, a millennium or more. So why not benefit from their experience? After all, if has worked for them, it makes sense that it would work for you or as our parents used to say…“you don’t have to recreate the wheel.” So how does this work? Let’s examine this strategy.

First off, think about the origins of your cuisine. If you can identify its geographic region, then think about the region’s grape varieties and in turn, the wines they produce. If you can make this connection, you’ve already gone a long way toward marrying the dish with a wine. I would bet that if you think about some of your more successful wine and food pairings, many of them would reflect a common geographic theme. Let’s look at a few poignant examples.

Pizza is a favorite “food group” of mine. If you think about the regionality of the dish (Italy) and the fact that the region has been making wine for nearly 4000 years, it makes sense to think about the grapes of the region and the wines that they produce. We have wines that reflect the Nebbiolo grape, namely Barolo and Barbaresco, the Barbera and Dolcetto grapes producing the namesake wines respectively, the Sangiovese grape clone producing Brunellos and Chianti’s, and a host of southern Italian grapes too numerous to mention. It makes sense then, to complement the pizza with an Italian varietal, my favorites of which are Chianti, Barbera and Nero d’Avola. Italians have been pairing tomato sauce and their reds for generations….so why not us? Could you pair a pizza with a Zinfandel, Shiraz (Syrah), Malbec, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cotes du Rhone or a Spanish wine such as Rioja, Ribera del Duero or Priorat? Absolutely…some perhaps better than others depending upon the toppings. The regionality theme is not an exclusive club…….just a jumping off point.

When I think of lamb dishes, my palate takes me to France, Spain and Italy. Depending upon the preparation, I’ll narrow my wine preferences. For example, if I choose delicately flavored oven roasted baby lamb chops, I might gravitate toward a lighter Bordeaux from France or from Spain, consider a Rioja or a Ribero del Duero. Alternatively, a hearty lamb stew opens up the universe of heavier reds such Bordeaux, Rioja, Barolo, Chianti, Rhone and Syrah. For another pairing suggestion, ever think about pairing a sausage based dish with an Alsatian white? Again here you have regionality playing a role.

With so many outstanding varietals from so many regions, you have only to take a small step to explore wine made from the same grape but from different geographic regions. For example, while a Tempranillo based Rioja from Spain may pair wonderfully with lamb stew, you might try an Arizona based Tempranillo blend to compare different “terroirs.” Or how about comparing a Spanish Garnacha with a French Grenache. Here again, same grape, different terroirs.

If you want to be a bit daring, you might think “if I like Cabernet Sauvignon, maybe I would enjoy a Bordeaux, which blends the Cabernet grape with four others. Or if you enjoy a deep fruity and earthy wine, how about trying a Rhone? In this country, we tend to pair steaks with big California or Washington Cabs. But if you think back to the regionality concept, you will know that beef dishes are a popular Italian cuisine and pair well with wines such as Barolo and Chianti.

One final point to make with regard to the regionality concept of food and wine pairing. Remember that within any given country, cuisine and wines often change from one sub-region to another. In the United States, California and Washington produce big, fruity Cabs while the Finger Lakes region of New York produces wonderful Rieslings. While we are accustomed to thinking of Spanish reds (Rioja, Ribero del Duero, Priorat and others), the Rias Baixas region in northwest Spain produces wonderfully crisp and tangy whites that are heralded for matching with local seafood dishes. While regionality is often a logical place to start in pairing wine with food, the concept is just a springboard to an end. After all, it is the marriage of food and wine aromas, flavors and structures that, in the end, define the culinary experience. So go ahead and experiment with pairing cuisine with its country wines and explore alternatives as well.

Making Sense of Your Senses:

If we go on the premise that the cuisine is the center of the dining experience, a key question to ask is “what is the primary dish and is there a defining accent or flavor?” The answer to this question begins to narrow the universe of wine choices. If the primary dish is steak, then more than likely your wine universe will be reds. If the dish is “seafood” including shellfish, your universe can be whites and lighter reds. Often, the dish and its accents will open up a large treasure chest of possible wine pairings. For example, depending upon the style of preparation and accents, pork can easily be paired with reds such as Pinot Noir or even a lighter Zinfandel or whites such as Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer or Riesling. Once you have settled upon the basic dish, the real fun begins.

In order to most effectively winnow down the wine choices for your dish, it is helpful to consider several elements. For starters, consider the secondary ingredients that accent the dish. These can consist of dried seasonings, sauces as well as what I call “supporting actors,” foods such as vegetables or fruits that may add flavor components. For example, witness the difference in flavor between a pork chop accented with a spiced rub containing chili pepper, cilantro, salt, pepper and garlic versus marinating the dish in a fig and pineapple fruit sauce. While both will pair well with a Gewurztraminer, the latter is also a perfect match for a New World Pinot Noir from Oregon or California. While the underlying dish is pork in both instances, the supporting actors can alter your wine choice(s).

Another sometimes ignored factor is the cooking style. Is the dish oven roasted, grilled or pan fried? Is it stewed, boiled or braised? Any of these styles may impart a certain flavor and texture to the dish that in turn, alter your wine preferences. While a roasted chicken will be moist with natural juices adding flavor and thus work well with a not too oaky Chardonnay or a new world Pinot Noir, a Burgundy, Cotes du Rhone, Barbera or Merlot, grilled chicken, with its barbecued aroma and flavor would do well with a big, oaky Chardonnay and in the reds, a Zinfandel or Syrah.

All of the above factors, the primary as well as the secondary ingredients, the “supporting actors,” and the method or style of preparation combine to produce a dish with a distinct personality, one that will be reflected in the body or weight of the dish and its intensity. We’ll examine weight, intensity and more in Part II.

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Tags: accents, Alsatian, Arizona, Barbaresco, Barbera, Barolo, Bordeaux, Brunello, Chianti, cooking style, Cotes du Rhone, Dolchetto, Garnacha, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Janos, lamb, Malbec, Merlot, Nebbiolo, Nero d'Avola, Pinot Noir, primary dish, Priorat, regionality, Rhone, Rias Baixas, Ribera del Duero, Rioja, Sangiovese, sauces, sausage, seasonings, Shiraz, Spanish wine, Syrah, Tempranillo, wine and food pairing, Zinfandel