Wine-and-Food Paring a High Art

EDMONTON — It was three weeks after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre that I was called on to make my toughest wine-and-food pairing decision.

“I’ve never tasted dog before,” I told my wife in a Beijing restaurant. “I don’t know whether we should go with a red or a white.”

We’d taken advantage of an inexpensive flight to visit China — everyone was coming the other way — and had been befriended by a Chinese student.

He’d offered to guide us if we allowed him to pay bills in local currency while we gave him dollars.

Sure, he knew where we could dine on dog. I had protested vehemently, but my wife was ready for it.

“You think nothing of eating slaughtered steers, pigs and chicken and I saw you eat giraffe in Africa,” she said. “The Chinese have been eating dog for eons. Find a nice bottle of wine and get over it.”

That’s how we came to taste an off-dry, straightforward Riesling the French had helped Chinese neophyte winemakers create. Good acidity in the wine cut through the almost pork-like meat.

Pairing wine and food is more of an art than a science. The old rule of red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat was long ago discredited. Pinot noir can pair perfectly with fish, especially salmon. A New World chardonnay can have more body than some reds.

The art is understanding the balance between the “weight” or “body” of the wine and the “weight” of a dish. A robust cabernet sauvignon overwhelms the taste of clam chowder and a light-bodied pinot gris is lost on a hearty venison stew.

The weight of a dish is often determined by how heavy a sauce is. The sauce is usually more important in deciding than the meat itself.

The weight of a wine is most often decided by alcohol level and perception of tannins, which come from grape skins or oak.

It’s also worth remembering in pairings that unlike flavours can complement marvellously, such as ice wine with Stilton cheese.

My choices at a meal are seldom textbook, because so much depends on the company and occasion. If I am entertaining friends, I pour what I know they enjoy.

It is worth remembering that Champagne pairs well with any dish and a sauce can be made outstanding by adding some of the wine with which it is to be paired.

Here are some suggested wine-and-food pairings:

White

Chardonnay: Seafood with butter sauce. Chicken and pasta in cream sauce. Veal and tandoori chicken.

Gewürztraminer: Spicy Asian cuisine. Pork. Ginger. Swiss cheese.

Pinot gris: Chicken satay. Turkey, shrimp, veal and calamari dishes.

Riesling (dry): Chicken. Turkey. Shrimp. Smoked trout. Ham. Pork.

Sauvignon blanc: Marinated grilled vegetables. Goat cheese. Shellfish. Sea bass. Fish or pork kebabs.

Red

Cabernet sauvignon: Steak. Ribs. Sausages. Cheddar cheese.

Merlot: Poultry. Red meat. Pasta. Chicken parmigiana. Salads. Pork.

Pinot noir: Fish. Spicy poultry. Lamb. Rabbit. Ham. Roasts.

Zinfandel: Tomato-based pasta dishes. Pizza. Pesto. Red meats.

To taste perfect pairings from a master, book a table at Lynn Heard’s Unheardof restaurant on Whyte Avenue on the 30th of any month up until October. She is pairing multiple courses with wines to celebrate her 30th year in business.

Heard has honed her wine appreciation in travel and has an outstanding cellar, including many vintages of Bordeaux’s Chateaux Petrus, one of the world’s most expensive wines.

“We have a modest cellar,” she says. “Friends have been kind enough to let us use some of their space.”

Some of her favourite pairings?

Bison/venison with a New Zealand Stonyridge Fallen Angel pinot noir or a huge Aussie Torbreck Woodcutter shiraz. Dessert? Dark chocolate with a good Amarone.

“I find it easier to taste a wine and then develop a dish to go with it,” she says. “The trick is not to let the food get in the way of the wine. I let the complexity of the wine show.”

Diary dates

Feb. 18 and 19: Winefest at the Shaw Conference Centre sold out last year and has added a day this year. Sample hundreds of wines from around the world and buy them on-site. Tickets at door: $65.

Wednesday, Feb. 23: Award-winning winemaker Sandra Oldfield of the Okanagan’s Tinhorn Creek Winery pairs her wines at The Westin’s newly renovated Share Restaurant. Tickets: $80 at 780-426-3636.

Tuesday, March 8: The California Wine Fair, supporting the Citadel Theatre, returns to the Shaw Conference Centre with 168 wineries pouring nearly 500 wines. Rare wines up for grabs in silent auction. Tickets: $65 at 780-425-1820.