FOOD & WINE PAIRING
If the Sun and the moon are bound together, then the food has no other choice but to wed the wine and grant us delightful combinations. Fear of not succeeding in this pairing drives a lot of wine lovers to order just a beer. We will vanquish this fear with a few basic instructions on how to pair food and wine.
Advice #1: Basic feature pairing
Food Wine
Aroma intensity Intense scent
Sourness High Acidity
Sweetness Sweet taste
Salty Acidity or sweetness
Spicy Fruity flavor
Advice #2: Characteristics balance
The food’s “weight” needs to match that of the wine’s.
The tart taste of tannin's needs to be offset with fat and proteins.
Advice #3: Cooking style and wine
Cooking style Wine
Steam Light
BBQ Fruity
Slow cooked Aged
Fried Acidic
WINE PRESERVATION
Each bottle that we buy, if not be consumed right away, needs to be stored properly in order to be preserved till the time it will be opened.
Thus, in order to be preserved, a bottle of wine needs to be kept away from the wines’ enemies:
Light: Avoid exposing the bottles both to sunlight or light bulbs.
Drought: It can cause problems to the cork and subsequently to the wine.
Temperature: Sudden temperature variations as well as extreme temperatures can cause deterioration to our wine.
In many occasions, it so happens to open a bottle of wine and not to consume the whole product; many people, then, throw away the remaining wine in fear that it cannot be preserved. Preserving the wine after it has been opened cannot guarantee that the wine will taste exactly the same as in that first sip, but it may ensure that the wine will live long enough in order to be consumed later.
For those who seek to preserve their opened wine bottles for a few more days, they can follow the list of choices that follow.
1) Air pump
2) The addendum of an inert gas
3) Decanting in a smaller bottle
4) Low temperature preservation (refrigerator)
5) Dispenser
Serving the wine
Since we have learned how to preserve our bottles in order to enjoy the wine, it would be a shame not to serve it in the right way. Besides the appropriate glasses and wine jugs, we need to be aware of the proper serving temperatures. The following temperature suggestions are indicative, but a frozen wine, as well as a warm one, will never bring out the full mount of its aromas.
White light / Rose: 10°C
White medium/full bodied: 12°C
Light red: 12 - 14°C
Medium/full bodied red: 16 -18°C
Sparkling wines: 6 - 8°C
Dessert wines: 6 - 8°C