Pairing potential

Well, we've managed to come full circle. Current thinking in the world of food and wine matching is to ignore everything you've learnt. From our first shaky steps adhering to the red wine for red meat/white wine for fish theory, to the more recent balancing act of juggling the weight of the food with the weight of the wine, we are now encouraged to believe that anything goes - just as long as you tweak the recipe accordingly.

This is the view held by a growing number of those in the (mostly US) wine world, in particular top Californian producer Trinchero Estates. The mantra at its new culinary centre, which is aimed at training up the on-trade, is: "Identify the tastes of your customers, not which wines work well with that dish."

Trinchero Estates, which includes the Sutter Home brand, believes we shouldn't get so hung up on finding the best wine for a particular dish. "If it tastes good for you, then it's a good pairing," reasons the winery's executive chef, Jeffrey Starr.

"We feel food can be prepared in such a way that a dish can go with lots of different wines - by adjusting the sweetness, sourness, saltiness and bitterness. It's more about making sure that the food doesn't hurt the taste of the wine," continues Starr. "Why should I have Cabernet Sauvignon with steak when I want Chardonnay? If I play around with the ingredients a little, I can make it work with Chardonnay."

Of course he has a point, but can you imagine the chaos in a restaurant kitchen during a busy service? A special food and wine-pairing menu, granted. This requires some planning, not to mention synergy between the kitchen and those selling the wine. And as this kind of menu is on the rise, you should consider this approach - so here are a few simple do's and don'ts of food and wine matching to help you on your way.

Do balance the weight of the food with the weight of the wine. This depends as much on the way the ingredients are cooked as on the flavours of the ingredients themselves - a steamed chicken breast is a world away from, say, a rich, dark coq au vin. Pinot Noir with a rich meat stew simply wouldn't stand up, but serve the stew with an earthy, red Bandol and the match is made. The bolder the flavour of the dish the bolder the wine must be to stand up to it.

There are other factors that can distort and influence flavour. Take acidity. An acidic wine will make a dish seem less rich and can also heighten the flavour of a dish - just as a squeeze of lemon might. And talking of lemons, or vinegar, or any other dish packed with citrus fruits, the accompanying wine must have equal acidity or it will taste flat. We're talking white wine here, but there are a few high-acid reds around to choose from, though a red wine with low tannins could also work, such as Beaujolais or Pinot Noir, and some ros‚s, too.

Try matching up a particular citrus fruit with a compatible grape variety and you'll reap the benefits. For example, for grapefruit flavours try a Gros Manseng from the Jurançon, or for a lemony dish, an Australian Verdelho or a Clare Valley Riesling. For an orangey pudding, marmaladey Setúbal works amazingly well.

And while we're talking acidity, let's not forget the tricky tomato. For salad, Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio works well; for a rich tomato sauce, Dolcetto and Sangiovese match up.

Now, sweetness. A general rule of thumb is that the wine must be at least as sweet as the food - or even sweeter. Get it the wrong way round and the wine will taste tart and thin. Pairing sweet and savoury is more of a challenge, but the rewards can be great if you get it right - just think of classic sweet and savoury pairings such as Sauternes and foie gras, Stilton and port, and some not so famous but equally delicious pairings, such as Parmesan and sweet Oloroso.

Then there's tannin. There's only one true partner for a chewy, tannic wine: meat, as it smoothes out the tannins a treat. The rest you can pretty much forget. Cheese is horrid with a tannic wine, as are eggs, but fish is the worst of all, making the wine taste metallic or bitter.

So what else should you avoid? Enemy Number One is vinegar, killing the wine completely - which makes it tricky when you get to salad dressing. Try using a mellow vinegar, such as sherry or balsamic - or you could splash wine in your dressing instead of vinegar.

Smoked fish is another wine no-go. Kippers are a disaster (try an Islay malt instead), smoked mackerel too. Smoked salmon is more forgiving - the best match I've come across is old Austrian Grüner Veltliner, but lightly oaked New World Chardonnays cope well enough, as do the more aromatic Alsace varieties. Champagne? The acidity cuts through the oiliness fine, but the smokiness of the fish can overwhelm the bubbly. Stick to Champagne with plenty of Chardonnay in the blend.

Contrary to popular opinion, there are matches out there for chocolate. For dark, bitter, high cocoa content, try Maury from the South of France. Tawny port, too, makes a fabulous match for the heavier chocolate puddings (I'm thinking fondant here). And here's something to consider: Asti Spumante and chocolate mousse.

I'm a recent convert to drinking wine with Indian food, thanks to London's Cinnamon Club or, to be more precise, to wine buyer and sommelier Laurent Chaniac. Spices such as peppercorns, chillies, cloves and cardamom work very well with fragrant whites with a little residual sugar, such as Riesling, Tokay Pinot Gris, dry Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. The heat from the spices is neutralised by the acidity in the wine, and the fruit has all the space it needs to show off on the palate.

Onion, carom seeds and turmeric play interesting tricks on the character of a wine (carom and turmeric are traditionally used in medicine to fight acidity in the stomach), so choosing a red wine with upfront, juicy fruit will soften the palate, while the fruit becomes even more opulent. A more tannic wine will soften up when glugged with a dish that includes ingredients such as onion seeds or ajowan (a close relative of dill, caraway and cumin).

"If you take a classic pickling mix composed of cumin, onion, fennel, carom and mustard seeds and then mix it with star anise and combine it with a grape such as Cabernet Franc from a very hot climate, a wonderful alchemy will take place," declares Chaniac. "The grape will tend to release aromas of eucalyptus and liquorice, which then marry perfectly with the flavours from the pickling spice mix."

Just avoid barrel-fermented whites when eating Indian food, as the oak will give you a bitter aftertaste when chomping on all those hot, aromatic spices.

Salt. Everyone forgets about salt, but it can have a massive impact on wine. Salt and tannin really don't go, accentuating the wine's bitterness nastily. The classic partner for salty food is something sweet - think prosciutto and melon, gammon and pineapple. For wine matches: fino and olives, Roquefort and Sauternes.

And while we're talking condiments, freshly ground pepper can be the death or making of a wine. It can kill an old, fine wine but pep up a light, boring wine - so tread carefully.

Keep it simple. Don't layer similar flavours together. Says Matt Wilkin, award-winning sommelier at the Capital Group: "If a dish is really earthy - wood pigeon, say - then don't match it with an earthy wine. Go for something fruity, as it will lift the dish and add a new dimension. I love Qupé Syrah with pigeon. And think about textures: don't use an oily wine with an oily dish - it needs some acidity to break it up."

And build on people's palates. "Try to get fatter and fuller throughout the meal," says David Moore at London's Pied à Terre. "If people really want only one wine, then I would recommend Austrian Grüner Veltliner. It's fabulously versatile and not intimidated by any food. And you don't need to know lots about wine to do this; enthusiasm is just as important. It's only by tasting and making a few mistakes and getting feedback from customers that you will learn."

Food and wine pairing menus There's a revolution going on in British restaurants right now - and I'm not just talking about the food. Our accompanying wine selections are also breaking new ground. Successful, and unexpected, pairings I've come across recently range from Prosecco with a Stilton and red onion tart (the People's Palace, London) to a white Rueda with a bouillon of black truffle and braised oxtail (Aurora, London).

Now there are many reasons for offering a food and wine matching menu, not least because you can sell two glasses of wine for lunch when the customer might otherwise have chosen only one. You can also sell wine that people might not usually choose, which is rather handy for shifting bin ends. David Moore at Pied à Terre in London's Charlotte Street has been offering a food and wine matching menu for six years, and there's no wine he can't sell - even a Greek Cabernet. "They don't look half the time. They just say, ‘I'll have what you're recommending,'" admits Moore.

If an all-out regular matching menu is too much effort, then consider a wine dinner, where a menu is tailor-made to one producer's wine (hopefully, with producer in situ - the punters love it). Not only is it great PR for the restaurant, it's also useful for staff training. And the Hotel du Vin group knows more than most about wine dinners, taking the prize for holding the most in the country.

"They are time-consuming, but they're exciting. I love the reaction you get from customers. We get a lot of regulars to these things, but it's built up because of trust. Each time they come they ask us more questions, and the more they trust you, the more they spend. In fact, I think that's the key to these food and wine matching things - trust," declares Xavier Rousset, at the Hotel du Vin Bristol.