Matching food and wine
To explore the comparative interaction of flavours and components on your palate, fundis recommend paralleling small samples of food for each taste sensation, along with a selection of wine styles. Cape Wine Academy's "Food and Wine" course co-ordinator Ligia De Coito suggests:
The big five
Arrange the following taste samples in little bowls:
Sour: lemon juice or vinaigrette dressing Bitter: black pepper sauce (not too strong or it will numb your palate) Salty: soya source or feta cheese Savoury: a combination of flavours, such as chicken liver pâté Sweet: Starking apple or pineapple slice
Fight or flight
CWM Allan Mullins put forward these suggestions:
Méthode Cap Classique – Villiera Tradition Brut Dry White – Springfield "Life from Stone" Sauvignon Blanc Full Wooded White – Glen Carlou Chardonnay Semi-Sweet White – Nederburg Lyric Light Bodied Red – Kleine Zalze Gamay Noir Full Bodied Red – Kaapzicht Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Noble Late Harvest – Wide River Reserve NLH (Robertson Winery)
Alternatively, Mullins suggests the same line-up tasted alongside the following meal:
Smoked or grilled salmon Grilled steak or venison with sautéed vegetables Fresh berry dessert Assorted cheese with biscuits
Pour the full complement of wines and provide each taster with a sample of each food. Starting with the vinaigrette dressing or lemon juice, taste a teaspoon-full before trying your Cap Classique. Work your way through the rest of the wines, each time sampling the dressing. Move on to the black pepper sauce, comparing it to each wine, and so on.
If you choose the second course of action, taste each of the wines (from bubbly through to Noble Late Harvest) with each course.
Jot down your impressions after each sample, noting which tastes and sensations dominate, which work well and which bring out the best in the other. Note how the wine and food inter-act in terms of acidity, sugar, texture, body and weight.
Potential pitfalls
Some guidelines to keep in mind:
Acidic food will leave an unmatched wine tasting flat and life-less Sweet food will make the wine appear dryer than usual Salty or spicy dishes should be paired with wine touched with sweetness, or it will completely overwhelm the palate. Certain foods have long been notoriously resistant to vinous partnerships. Foodie Jos Baker talks from experience:
"Artichokes lend a tinny or metallic flavour to wine. Oily fish like sardines coat the mouth and needs a white wine high in acid to cut through the oil. Watch out for salad dressings with stringent vinegar, rather go for a mature balsamic which is sweeter and less raspy. Hot chilli is the nemesis of wine, numbing the palate. Chocolate is a notorious no-no."
Baker recommends the safest route with eggs is to serve scrambled or as an omelette (with a salmon filling) accompanied by a Cap Classique as a brunch-time dish. Bubbles are versatile and complement most dishes at any time of the day.
The longstanding canon that red wine naturally marries with cheese is one she warns not to get stuck on. "The idea that cheese and wine are perfect companions is a myth, but there are certain conventions to follow. Sauvignon Blanc usually pairs well with goat's milk cheese, Chardonnay with soft cheese and pungent blue cheese with a rich dessert wine. Red wine complements hard cheese like cheddar. Smoked cheese is best served with Shiraz. Port with Stilton is an institution best respected while Roquefort with Sauternes is a celestial partnership."
"Don't waste rare vintages on a dining dénouement of runny, pungent Brie or Camembert – these become acrid, like ammonia. Gorgonzola can floor the most full-bodied wine," she maintains.
Chocolate remains the most elusive. While some fundis can remember one wine, in the past, that came close to bliss with chocolate, it was usually a serendipitous Burgundy, a once-off affair.
Back to the drawing board
With this in mind, Mullins reiterates the joy of experimentation and fun – with a broader knowledge from which to plan the perfect orchestration to serve your guests. Remember, too, the old Nepalese mantra: ''Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.'' To this you might add: "And revel in wine."
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Tip of the month
Avoid lipstick, perfume or aftershave when embarking on a tasting. Both can startle the nose and confuse the palate. Don't clean your teeth or smoke for an hour or two, if not longer, prior to the occasion.
