food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington
food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington
food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington
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The previous chapters have presented a variety of ideas on <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> elements <strong>and</strong> how they react to each other.<br />
Chapters 5 through 10 provided twelve basic rules to consider in <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> <strong>pairing</strong> decisions. These are<br />
not hard-<strong>and</strong>-fast laws, but they do provide guidance in making better <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> matching decisions.<br />
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These rules provide a tool chest of considerations when <strong>pairing</strong>. The exercises thus far have focused on evaluating<br />
specific elements of <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> <strong>and</strong> their interactions when tasted together. This process provides<br />
you with a taste, texture, <strong>and</strong> flavor memory that will be useful during the remaining exercises <strong>and</strong> in future<br />
<strong>pairing</strong> decisions. This <strong>experience</strong> also adds to your tool chest when assessing <strong>food</strong>-<strong>and</strong>-<strong>wine</strong> elements in the<br />
future.<br />
Rule #1: Food sweetness level should be less than or equal to <strong>wine</strong> sweetness level.<br />
Rule #2: Food acidity level should be less than or equal to <strong>wine</strong> acidity level.<br />
Rule #3: Highly salty <strong>food</strong>s work better with <strong>wine</strong>s that have high effervescence.<br />
Rule #4: The negative impact of bitter <strong>food</strong> is lessened when combined with <strong>wine</strong>s of moderate to high levels<br />
of effervescence.<br />
Rule #5: Wine tannin levels should be equal to animal-based <strong>food</strong> fattiness levels.<br />
Rule #6: Wine acidity levels should be equal to vegetable-based <strong>food</strong> fattiness levels.<br />
Rule #7: Wine overall body should be equal to <strong>food</strong> overall body.<br />
Rule #8: Food spiciness should be equal to <strong>wine</strong> spiciness.<br />
Rule #9: Spicy <strong>food</strong> should be paired with off-dry, acidic white <strong>wine</strong>s.<br />
Rule #10: Food-<strong>and</strong>-<strong>wine</strong> flavor types can be matched using similarity or contrast.<br />
Rule #11: Wine <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> flavor intensity should be equal.<br />
Rule #12: Flavor persistency of <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> should be equal.<br />
Tasting <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> can be done either sequentially or in a mixed procedure. The sequential process allows<br />
the taster to evaluate the <strong>wine</strong> or <strong>food</strong> on its own merits. Is it high or low in acidity? What is the overall body?<br />
How intense is the flavor? A mixed process occurs when the <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> items are tasted simultaneously.<br />
This type of tasting allows the taster to assess the interaction of the <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> elements. Did one of the<br />
items overpower the other? Did the <strong>wine</strong> make the <strong>food</strong> taste exceedingly bitter or vice versa? Did the sweetness<br />
level in the <strong>food</strong> cause the <strong>wine</strong> to taste thin <strong>and</strong> acidic?<br />
In the next three chapters (Chapters 11–13), you will evaluate, taste, <strong>and</strong> analyze <strong>wine</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>food</strong> items using<br />
both the sequential <strong>and</strong> mixed tasting processes. These assessments will combine all of the elements of <strong>food</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>wine</strong> presented in the earlier chapters. For this assessment, you will be using an instrument that brings<br />
together all of these elements into three pages.