Wine and Food

8/14/2019 Wine and Food

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WINE FOODIN BALANCE


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INTRODUCTION

This module is all about FWEA's food and winepairing philosophy. You will learn to recognize howfood changes the way wine tastes. Using the FWEAProgressive Food Menu as a tool, you will also learn

how the dominant taste in food (sweet, sour, salty,bitter and the protein taste umami ) will change allwines the same way. Finally, you will be able toconfidently recognize the dominant taste in a dish,

whether it is sweet, sour, etc., and choose a winethat will taste delicious with it.


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MODULE OBJECTIVES

In this module you will learn: How food and wine pairing has traditionally beenbased on two primary ideas. On the pages that follow, youwill learn to recognize how food changes the way wine

tastes. How to use the FWEA Progressive Food Menu as a tool,and how the dominant taste in food (sweet, sour, salty,bitter and the protein taste umami ) will change all wines

the same way. To recognize the dominant taste in a dish, whether itis sweet, sour, etc., and choose a wine that will tastedelicious with it.


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FWEA S PROGRESSIVEFOOD MENU

We look at wine and food pairing a little differentlyat FWEA, which is what the FWEA ProgressiveFood Menu is all about.

But before we get into that it helps to understandhow wine and food is traditionally paired.


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TRADITIONALFOOD & WINE PAIRING I

The first method is to try to copy the food and winepairings of a wine producing region such as pastamarinara with Chianti, beef with Burgundy, lamb withBordeaux, oysters with Champagne, or smoked

salmon with Riesling.These pairings can work but there is no explanationwhy or how. The common answer, they growtogether so they go together still does not addressthe how. When they do not work, you do not knowhow to fix the dish. It is the hit-or-miss school ofwine and food pairing.


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TRADITIONALFOOD & WINE PAIRING II

The second method is the

mirroring method,

which is tomirror the color, flavors, and the so called weight of the winewith the ingredients in the food.

In its simplest form, this is color coding; the white-wine-with-fish

and red-wine-with-meat mentality. We often complicate it muchfurther trying to match aromas or flavors in the wine with similarcharacteristics in food (berries, brown spices, etc.).

These may sound good together, look good together, and smellgood together but what happens when they do not taste goodtogether? You are stuck again.

In the end, both these traditional methods do not always work and they are certainly not tools.


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CLASSIFYING WINE:FWEA S PROGRESSIVE WINE LIST

One of the biggest hurdles in wine and food pairingis the vast selection of wines available to us today.The variables are endless when you consider the

different grape varieties, countries, winemakers,and wine styles.

However, wine can be categorized by focusing ontaste profile and style. In the simplest form of thissystem, which we call FWEA s Progressive WineList, we can place wines in one of five categories.


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THE PROGRESSIVE WINE LIST

What is the The Prog ress ive Wine Lis t ?

The Progressive Wine List is a communication tool. Itcommunicates a great deal about the wine and aboutwine and food pairing.

It is a Training tool

It is a wine list management tool It is a Wine and Food pairing tool


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THE FIVE CATEGORIESOF WINE

Level 1: Off-dry to very sweet wines(includes dessert wines)

Level 2: Dry light-intensity white wines, with little

or no oak (includes most sparkling wines)Level 3: Dry white wines with oak barrel influence

Level 4: Light-intensity red wines withoutmuch tannin

Level 5: Strong-intensity red wines withmedium-to-strong tannins


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WINE CATEGORYCHARACTERISTICS

Within each of these categories, there are several levelscorresponding to the intensity of the characteristics, suchas oak, tannin, sweetness, etc.

Keep in mind that even within a specific varietal a wine s

profile can be very different. For example, a SauvignonBlanc can be sweet, dry with little or no oak, or dry withoak flavors.

The Progressive Wine List has 5 different levels which areapplied to the 4 numbered categories of food styles. Forexample, food category #4 is desserts which pair withLevel 1 wines (off-dry to very sweet).


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CLASSIFYING FOOD

To understand how wine interacts with food, we needto look at the food in terms of the simple elements oftaste. Any specific dish will contain one or more of

the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter andprotein/umami.*

These dominant tastes in the food will have aprofound effect on the taste of the wine. FWEA sWine and Food in Balance theory explains the resultof these reactions.


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WHAT IS UMAMI?

You may not have heard of Umami , the fifth taste. Do not feelalone many people have not. Umami, which translates as deliciousness in Japanese, was discovered and isolated in1908 by Japanese food specialist Kikunae Ikeda.

Umami is actually glutamic acid (a protein), the most commonamino acid. Umami makes food taste savory and the purestform of umami is MSG. Shitake mushrooms, Parmesancheese, and sun-dried tomatoes also have very high levelsof umami.

In 1997 researchers at the University of Miami isolated tastebuds that are receptive to umami.

Umami is a very important element in food and wine pairingbecause it creates a noticeable reaction in wine.


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FOOD & WINE REACTIVITY

Sweet and protein/umami dominatedfoods reduce wine aromas and make wine

textures (acidity, bitterness, astringencyand tannins) stronger.

Sour and salt dominated foods make winetextures milder (richer, smoother, sweeter)and can accentuate aromas.


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THE PROGRESSIVE FOOD MENU

Now that you have read about FWEA s ProgressiveWine List and Wine & Food in Balance , we will applythe same philosophy to determine the taste profiles

of completed dishes.The Progressive Food Menu is divided intocategories of foods grouped by the same dominanttastes. Included are specific examples of dishes fromeach category and a list of recommended white andred wines from The Progressive Wine List.


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WINE & FOOD IN BALANCE

In the following pages you will also find the FWEAProgressive Wine List applied to the four categoriesof foods grouped by their dominant tastes.

In each category the dominant taste is definedfollowed by a description of how these tastes reactwith wine.

Finally, there is a recommended style or category ofwine that pairs best with these types of foods.


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CATEGORY # 1: SWEET, SPICY,OR PROTEIN DOMINATED FOODS

Dishes that are sweet, spicy, or protein-dominant andlow in salt will make a wine s texture stronger and allwines will become more acidic or crisp.

In addition, if the wine has been in oak barrels it willbecome more bitter. And red wines will also becomemore tannic.

The recommended styles of wines for these dishes

are off-dry and light styles of wines because theyhave no oak or tannins that would become morebitter. And their fruitiness or sweetness buffers therise in acidity.


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CATEGORY # 1: WINES

Off-dry or fruity white wines and low-tannin winespair well with sweet, spicy or protein dominant(umami) foods:

Off-dry or fruity whites: off-dry Sparkling Wine,Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Gewrztraminer, CheninBlanc, Viognier.

Low-tannin reds: dry Ros, Nouveau, Beaujolais,lighter Shiraz and Zinfandel.


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CATEGORY #2: ACID & PROTEINDOMINANT FOOD

Dishes that are acid dominant will make a wine milder orsofter. The acidity in the dish will lower your perception ofthe acid in the wine, which makes it taste milder andsometimes more aromatic or fruity.

Since these foods are low in salt, the wines should nothave much oak influence or tannins. Crisp, light-intensitywines (wines with little or no oak) will pair the best sincethey tend to be relatively high in acidity.

Protein-dominant foods that are low in salt will also pairwell with these styles of wines. Bitterness, such as inendive, arugula, or smoked foods, often bonds with thebitterness in oak and tannins so these crisp lightintensity wines will pair well with those foods too.


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CATEGORY # 2: WINE

Crisp, light-intensity wines pair well with acid andprotein dominant foods.

Wines: Sparkling Wine/Champagne, SauvignonBlanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, un-oaked Chardonnay,Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, dry ros,Beaujolais, Pinot Noir


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CATEGORY #3:BALANCED FOODS

Dishes that are seasoned properly/balanced with salt willdevelop more complex flavor in the food and will pair withthe widest variety of wines.

If a dish is high in sweetness and/or protein (umami), the

addition of some acidity is quite common in many cuisines(think of tomato sauces with wine or vinegar, or addinglemon juice to seafood).

Besides enhancing the flavor, the acidity also balances

the dish so that it does not react with the wine

s acidbalance as much.

Dishes with this balance between salt seasoning andacidity will pair well with all wine categories.


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CATEGORY #3: WINES

Strong-intensity, oaked whites, light to mediumintensity reds, and medium-to-strong intensity redspair well with balanced/properly seasoned foods:

Oaked whites: oaked Chardonnay, Viognier, PinotBlanc, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc

Lighter intensity reds: Ros, Nouveau/Beaujolais,Gamay, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Shiraz/Syrah,

Merlot, ZinfandelStronger intensity reds: Merlot, Sangiovese,Shiraz/Syrah, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, CabernetSauvignon


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CATEGORY #4: DESSERT

Desserts: these are an extreme extension of thesweetness described in Category #1.

Virtually all desserts are sweet and low in salt. Evenlemon and rhubarb s tartness is balanced by addingmore sugar.

A general rule of thumb is to serve dessert wines thatare sweeter than the dessert so the wine s acidity will

not be pronounced.


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CATEGORY #4: WINES

Sweet to very sweet wines pair best withsweet desserts:

Wines: sweet Madeira, sweet Sherry, Port, late-

harvest Riesling, Vin Santo, Sauternes, Tokaji


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REVIEW

You should now have a good understanding of: How food and wine pairing has traditionally beenbased on two primary ideas.

The FWEA Progressive Food Menu as a tool, andhow the dominant taste in food (sweet, sour, salty,bitter and the protein taste umami ) will change allwines the same way.

Recognizing the dominant taste in a dish, whetherits sweet, sour, etc., and choose a wine that will tastedelicious with it.

Wine and Food

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