Wine & Spirits List - Riviera Wine 2020-2021

STAY LOCAL
Many wines, especially in the Old World,
have evolved over the years to suit the
local cuisine. If in doubt about what wine
to pair with a food, then a local wine can
be a good place to start. For example, a
lot of Italian food is tomato based and
the acidity of the tomatoes matches well
with the high acidity of Italian wines.
Another example is Goats cheese and
Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre and Pouilly-
Fumé. There is a famous Goats cheese
called Crottin de Chavignol made just
outside the village of Sancerre and the
aromatic flavours of each pair beautifully
together. Other examples include Boeuf
Bourgignon and red Burgundy, oysters
and Muscadet and truffles and Barolo.
WEIGHT
Weight is a very important factor to take
into consideration and you should try to
match the weight of your wine with the
weight of your food. For example, a light
green salad would pair well with a bodied
wine such as a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon
Blanc. The goal with food and wine
paring is to have the wine and food to coexist
and be able to express its character
without being dominated by the other. If
one were to serve a full-bodied buttery
Chardonnay with light green salad,
the wine would be overpowering and
you wouldn’t be able to taste the salad.
Likewise, if you had a weighty dish
such as a mushroom risotto, this would
overpower a light-bodied wine and then
a full bodied Chardonnay would come in
handy.
FLAVOUR INTENSITY
The amount of flavour in a dish is
another important aspect for the same
reasons as above. A full flavoured wine
will overpower a very mild dish and
vice versa. The reason why a Barossa
Shiraz is a great match for BBQ meat
is that both the wine and food are full
flavoured and spicy. On the other hand, a
lightly flavoured red wine like Beaujolais
would not be able to compete with the
intense BBQ flavours. A classic rule that
also would fit under this heading and
generally works well is that white meat
goes with white wine (or light red) and
red meat goes with red wine.
ACIDITY
If you have a dish with a lot of acid such
as pasta with a tomato sauce or a salad
with vinaigrette dressing, then you need
to ensure your wine has equal or higher
acidity. Gambas with a lime dressing for
example would go well with a crisp wine
such as Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin
Blanc or Riesling. The acid in the food will
balance the wine and make it taste fruitier
and less acidic. If you paired a high acid
dish with a low acid wine, the wine would
taste very neutral and almost watery.
SWEETNESS
Have you ever eaten a sweet lemon tart
with the red wine left over from your main
course? I have tried this combination and
it is quite horrible! Sweet foods need
sweet wine, otherwise the wine will taste
sour and the dessert will not show its full
potential. The wine should be at least as
sweet if not sweeter than the dessert.
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RIVIERA WINE FOOD AND WINE PAIRING