Is wine pairing sensible or just dinner conversation?

Does it really matter? I mean it all makes me is jolly and camp.

Now before I offend any wine nerds or sommeliers, I’m not talking about vintage, antique wines that you talk to men in cravats about while spitting into a bucket. I’m talking about stopping at a slightly nicer shop than normal to buy a bottle of wine you can’t pronounce to impress your new couple friends who you don’t really like.

Wine is complex and vastly argued topic in itself. It’s varied and globally discussed, found in one form or another in nearly every culture on earth. It’s a big deal! Love it or hate it, you can’t deny it’s everywhere. Now I enjoy a glass (bottle) of wine and I believe it’s something I have definitely got more interested in as I get older. It’s an oddly engaging topic; with its own legends, mythology and rule book. And above all else, a die hard collection of professional and eager enthusiasts who will defend it until the last drop of Malbec has been spilt.

Now the core beliefs: red wine is for red meat and bolder flavours, where white wine is for more delicate flavours like white meat and cheese.This is where the chaos begins. You then have various flavours and notes that match different ingredients and meals. This why when you get the wine menu and it’s considerably larger then the food menu. Then there are new world and old world wine. Old world is countries that have always been known for wine like France and Italy, whereas new world is places that are more modern in flavour profiles like Newzeland. Still keeping up?

If you want to start a fiery debate mention California wine. I’m sure it’s lovely, but I enjoy watching the chaos that ensues in the wine community when it’s mentioned.

I found myself in a restaurant in Croatia. Midday; I’m hiding in the shade under the restaurant water mister (yes, they have those!) wanting nothing more than an ice cold glass of wine. So obviously a nice white like a Pino Grigio or Sauvignon blanc, however I didn’t want any “white wine” food. Luckily, beer is a globally accepted cure for all food choices. But it got me thinking - why do I suddenly feel like I can’t eat something because I want a certain type of beverage.

Bottles of wine you buy off a shelf more often than not will have serving suggestions on the back. Broad, but still what kind of thing would go well with each type of wine. It is worth noting because behind the wine snobbery and toffery there is an actual reason and science behind this. So wines and, oddly, whiskies have flavours that are composed of notes. Ingredients and technique that give flavours in the taste and smell of the wine that overall make the wine taste a certain way. This is normally due to the type of grape and the amount of sugars and time scale used when fermenting. All a well guarded and centuries old recipes for many wine makers.

Now people don’t only spend their lives working out this complex systems but generations of families worth of time and effort, it’s genuinely important stuff!

But how does this resinate for the confused individual staring wide eyed at the wall of bottles in the wine aisle. Let’s be honest price has a lot to with it.

Larger companies will mass produce basic wines made from grapes from a range of vineyards, from a large area. These are not particularly complex or interesting but if you drink enough it will still give you the headache for half the price. They can be find in the “oh we need to take a bottle to that awful house warming party we can’t get out of” section of the wine aisle. I have now been drinking wine long enough to become a snob when it comes to this wide range of to be honest, okay wines. I know they are fine really but I still reach up past them for the slightly more expensive bottles….

Smaller vineyards and more “artisan” wine makers are obviously more pricey. Small quantities and a greater care for the product is what really holds these bottles above the others. A deeper vein of notes will lead it to be more desired with certain ingredients and meals.

I used to drink wine because I could get drunk without the bloating of beer, now I I drink it for the complexity of taste and because it’s nice to look into a world of passion that I will never really truly understand. Its without a doubt a very special world that we get to taste little by little and develop a every more detailed pallet.

Do you need to match it with what you are eating though? No not really. Good food deserves good wine. That’s about it.

Eat well

J.T.