Food and wine pairing. Two different characters with very different tastes. The key is to trust your own palate. This is the most important thing. Believe it! So if pairing a Rex Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon with a Char Grilled Vegetables makes you happy, then congratulations! You have made a successful food/wine pairing. Your palate will tell you when you have made a good or bad decision.
Probably in this example you found some unexpected mistakes. Maybe the Sauvignon interacted the Parmesan unfavorably and caused salty and bitter tastes.
How could happen a good pairing with the famous Char Grilled Vegetables?
Some of the most important basic considerations are the weights of the food and wine. You shouldn’t see only the color of the wine, because more important its body. If you choose a heavy wine then choose a heavy food, and it is true vice versa with wine as well. Pair you Chardonnay with Chicken Picata. Pinot Noir is the best for a roasted chicken. Chili Con Carne is fine with Syrah or Grenache.
If you consider that trait of the wine can modify your cognition of the food, you don’t fail. You should avoid strong flavor foods with spice, or garlic because the wine will pick these flavors up and destroy the general tastes. If your wine has high alcohol content then be careful and do not pair with spicy foods, because you will get the same result as before.
With a good moderately spiced dish such as Kung Pao chicken try a nice, cool Valckenberg Gewurztraminer. Yet another approach with a spicy Tunisian chicken dish, for example, would be a rose from Argentina, such as Crios de Susana Balbo Rose of Malbec.
In the above mentioned example wine would offer enough fruit and body and not clash with the food. Unfortunately in some cases flavors of the foods are overwhelming the wine and in this case maybe you should select completely different alcohol content beverage for your meal. An interesting type of food is Spicy Cajun Gumbo. Never try with wine. You need to respect that wine has borderline.
Do not forget that many classic examples exist of food and wine pairings that are tried and true. For example: foie gras and Sauternes, grilled steak and Chateau Maris Minervois La Touge (Grenache and Syrah) or Chicken paella and red Rioja. These are reliable, low-risk ventures that will likely result in an enjoyable overall dining experience. In the process we might notice that the proteins in our steak actually soften the tannins in our Syrah.
From now the decision is in your hand! Have a fine pairing!
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