It has been a minute since I have had a healthy rant in this space, but that does not mean that there is a lack of topics about which I could rant. There are still a ton of folks using the word “varietal” incorrectly, a plethora of people calling everything with bubbles “champagne”; and far too many producers using ridiculously heavy bottles. All worthy of a healthy rant. Instead, I focus today on a subject that hopefully will soon run its course: Wine and Food pairings.
The concept behind the idea is fairly straightforward: some wines taste better with certain foods and vice versa. And I wholeheartedly agree with that assertion; there is a reason why many people prefer to have a white wine with fish and a red wine with meat. Briefly, most red wines have tannin, a bitter, often astringent polyphenol compound that are extracted from the grape skins during the fermentation process (more can be added through oak barrels, but let’s keep it simple-ish).
Those tannins, in effect, are looking to attach themselves to something and when the wine is consumed without food, they like to attach to your saliva, which causes that drying sensation associated with highly tannic wines (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah). When consumed with food, however, those tannins really like to interact with animal fat. Rich, fatty foods like beef can stand up to those tannins and serve to “soften” them, making both your steak and Cab taste “better” as a result.
When paired with more delicate foods, like fish, those tannins can become harsh, even coming off as metallic. That is why many people prefer a white wine when having seafood, since white wines generally have much lower levels of tannin, but are still high in acidity. That acidity in a white wine acts much like a fresh squeeze of lemon on top of your fish; it enhances the flavor of the food.
So that, briefly, is the science/reasoning behind many or most wine pairing “suggestions” to which I respond:
Who Cares?
If you haven’t noticed, the wine industry is in a bit of a crisis right now as sales have plummeted since the pandemic with many producers citing as much as a 30% decrease in revenue. One of the main foci for the industry has been on younger adults, who don’t seem to care too much for wine (at least at the moment). Many a pundit has posited as to why this might be: the rise in RTDs (ready to drink “cocktails” such as White Claw), alcohol alternatives (cannabis), and the rise of the anti-alcohol lobby (think Dry January).
What has been largely overlooked, in my opinion, is the industry itself. The wine industry (and those associated with it, such as writers) is continually putting up barriers to entry: high tasting room fees, the high cost of ancillary items (stem ware, wine refrigerators), and a ton of “rules” on how we should store, serve, and consume the product. From using the right glass to pairing it with the “right” foods, the people in the wine industry are constantly suggesting (or outright stating) that the consumer is wrong in the way they are consuming their product.
This past weekend, I was in California with a bunch of people in the wine industry. From winemakers to salespeople, to tasting room staff, just about everyone there was connected to the industry in some way. We ate and drank well, as one could imagine. At every meal there were at least a dozen bottles of wine on the table and the cuisine ranged from seafood to sirloin. And you know what never came up? Food and wine pairings. Not once did I hear: “now try that steak with this wine” or “Really, you knucklehead? You are going to have that Cab with those fish tacos?”
Wine people understand that there are good wines and there is good food, period. They understand that certain wines “go better” with certain foods, but if someone brings a 5 liter bottle of his 2006 Cabernet to dinner and you ordered the fish? Who cares? You are going to have some Cab with your fish.
Google “wine Pairing Suggestions” and you will get page after page of websites that will tell you the “rules” that you should be following. On one site I found this: “Please don’t ruin your 2010 Napa Cab with a butter-seared salmon; you won’t enjoy either of them.”
What if you really love Napa Cab and have a hankering for some butter-seared salmon? My advice? Go for it! My father-in-law passed away recently and even though he was 89 years old, it still drove home the fact that life is short; no one gets out of this alive. If you want to have some Pinot Grigio with your Filet Mignon, do it.
The next time you are at a “nice” restaurant and order a Chardonnay with your ribeye and the server tries to talk you out of it, realize that they are part of the problem with the wine industry right now. And you are actually part of the solution.
the drunken cyclist 