Choosing the Right Wine for Your Food

As we all know, wine and food pair wonderfully together, but you do need to ensure you have the right wine based on what you are planning to cook. If you are throwing a dinner party, doing some research to learn more about the perfect wine for your planned meal is a great way to impress your guests and ensure that the food is complemented perfectly by the wine choice.

While drinks such as grapefruit infused vodka are great for mixing pre-dinner cocktails for your guests, your meal should be served with high quality wine. In order to choose the wine, there are a number of factors that you need to take into consideration. This includes the tastes of your guests, the food you are making and the quality of the wine.

Some tips to help you choose

One thing you should never do is skimp on quality when it comes to wine that you will be serving with dinner. While a cheap bottle of plonk may be okay if you are simply having a glass or two alone if you are having guests over to dinner you want to buy something that is palatable. In addition, the wine you choose needs to be matched to your food and make sure you have a number of different wines to pair with the different courses within the meal.

If you are serving up seafood as part of your meal, sparkling wine is an excellent choice, as it can help to bring out the flavor in the food. When it comes to smoked meats, you can go all out and opt for rich, bold red wines, which are perfectly suited to this type of dish. Wines such as Shiraz are great for meals that include red meat such as steak. You could also try a sparkling Shiraz, these are rich full-bodied sparkling wines which pair well with food.

If you are serving up a dish such as pasta, a fruit, palatable white wine is a great choice. However, pasta also goes well with sparkling wines as well. Also, if you are serving up dishes that have plenty of garlic, a nice full bodied red can help to bring out the flavor.

Never forget about the dessert part of your meal, as this is something that many of your guests will be looking forward to if they have a sweet tooth. The right wine for your dessert will depend on what type of dessert you are making. For instance, if you are creating a chocolate dessert for your guests to enjoy, a red wine with chocolate undertones is a great way to complement your final course. Also, sweet sparkling wines complement desserts.

Always make sure you do thorough research and check the wine that you purchase, as this often tells you the best food to pair it with. This will enable you to make the right decisions for each course.