As a devout and opinionated wine and food person, I certainly have a point of view on my approach towards pairing wine and food in a way that maximizes your pleasure, enables you freedom and flexibility, minimizes any prescriptive ‘must dos/haves’, and allows for a simple approach which can be easily replicated once you learn the system- ahh, to do that, you should read my books (forgive the shameless propaganda).

With that framework explained, bottomed line is I base my thinking on the metrics of a given wine’s structure (sweetness, sourness, tannin, oak, and alcohol) and understanding how a wine’s unique DNA of those five elements lends itself towards food. I call the simple process ‘wine mapping’. Food, of course, has its own prioritization of key elements/ingredients, methods of cooking/preparation, and accompanying sauces/condiments. Personality filled side dishes. Once you understand which of those priorities is the ‘alpha male’ of the dish, matching a wine to that priority becomes the goal. In theory, straightforward but in practice, a question of exactly that- mega practice coupled with experience and…guidance. Continue reading »