Should you drink red wine with meat?

The answer to this will differ, dependant on your personal taste and opinion.  The general rule is that white wine goes with white meat and red wine with red meat - but there are some white wines that can stand up to red meat, and likewise some reds that will cope with white meat.

Matching wine to food can be fun and also a challenge - but at the end of the day if you enjoy a glass of, for example Italian Lugana, and enjoy a medium rare sirloin steak - who are we to judge.  Our wine list in Kyloe is soon to be updated with a Malbec specific section - where wine and steak will be a marriage made in heaven.  All of the Malbecs, from entry level to high end, are coming from the Mendoza region of Argentina - where the world's best Malbecs are produced.'

Food and Wine Combinations

Food and wine go together because one compliments the other. Food tastes better with wine because wine offers aromas, flavours, and textures to the food being eaten.

Think of the first bite you take of a slice of rare roast prime rib of beef. With that first bite you smell the rich aromas, taste the full flavour of the meat, and experience the full range of senses in your mouth. The second mouthful is never as good as the first because your nose and mouth are already used to the sensations the roast beef provides.

Your senses of taste and smell can become easily fatigued. The best way to refresh them is to offer an alternative set of smells, tastes, and sensations. A sip of wine does just that. This is the most rudimentary way in which food and wine go together.

A lot of people say that if the food and wine are both good, then the balance will be good. This is true if the match is good; it isn't excellent, outstanding, sublime, or heavenly. To obtain these levels of enjoyment and appreciation the wine needs to act as a contrast to the food. In the best matches, the wine compliments the food whilst offering a contrast.

Pairing Wine with People - think of the person not the food

Many people choose to stay with their preferred style of wine, regardless of the occasion or the food on the menu. Whereas this practice might seem odd to some people, there's nothing basically wrong with it.

Serving a fine claret with good steak (irrelevant of the cut) goes down very well in my book, but if a diner drinks only white wine, to press a red wine upon them, regardless of how agreeable he or she is to my suggestion would be wrong.

If, however, you are fortunate enough to have a somewhat more open-minded diner, then the importance of pairing wine and food becomes a bit easier. Many combinations of wine and food, not considered to be 'classic' matches, can work well.

Wine and Food: Classic Combinations

There are a few classic food and wine matches that are worth knowing about. Many of these are regional, and it's worth remembering that the dishes of a region or country often do pair well with the local wines.

Simple pasta dishes will usually be a good reason to open any inexpensive Italian red wine, which tend to have a higher acidity, but will pair well with many foods. An example is the rich cuisine of the Burgundy Region of France that works very well when combined with local wines of the region, especially when they have been used in the preparation of the dish.

The general rule of thumb, when considering a wine with food - if using the same wine whilst cooking, will help the two marry together.

Conclusion

There are just a few important points to bear in mind when thinking about which wines work well with which foods.

- Keep your diners' tastes in mind - will they enjoy the wine you are suggesting?

- Most wines will work well with most foods.

- Don't be swayed by the opinions of others. Italian Lugana with beef is fine, if that is what you enjoy.

- These days, you're more likely to hear, "Drink what you like, eat what you like."