Nothing goes better with food than wine, and with so many varieties of wine, there is a glass for every dish. Although there is no right or wrong way to drink wine, pairing your food with the right wine will help enhance the flavors of your dish and make your tastebuds sing.
We are lucky to live in the original wine country of the United States where there are plenty of wines to try. New Mexico wines can be traced back nearly 400 years. And in that time, many vintners have left their mark on the rich history of winemaking in New Mexico. In the process, they’ve left us with almost 50 different wineries and vineyards across the state.
All these choices can make pairing your dinner with the perfect glass a bit daunting. But we hope to help and show you how to order wine like a pro!
Most importantly, you need to know what you’re trying to achieve by pairing your food. Wine pairing can be broken down into two main kinds of pairings:
1) A congruent wine pairing where you are looking for similar flavors to spotlight. For example, a rich, earthy Pinot Noir with a Beef Wellington. This pairing will amplify the earthy flavors found in the wine and the mushrooms in the dish.
2) A contrasting or complementary wine pairing where you are looking for one flavor to balance another. A great example would be pairing an acidic Champagne to contrast with a smooth soft cheese like brie.
Although we could go on for a few blog posts describing the multiple elements in wine and food you could take into consideration when looking for the perfect pairing, this quick cheat sheet will help you choose a pairing next time you visit any of the amazing wineries or bistros in New Mexico.
First, identify your flavors. Identify the most dominant flavor profile(s) in what you’re ordering.
There are many different tastes you can identify in a single dish. But for pairing purposes, you can focus on the main six elements of any dish.
1. Acidity
2. Saltiness
3. Spiciness
4. Fattiness
5. Bitterness
6. Sweetness
Now think of the wines you have available for pairing. Luckily wine is pretty straightforward when it comes to basic tastes. You can lump wine into three main taste categories.
1. Bitter (red wines)
2. Sweet (sweet wines)
3. Acidic (sparkling and white wines)
Once you’ve identified which category your dish falls into, it’s time to decide whether you’re trying to focus on the dominant taste of the dish or looking for something to cut through it and balance out the flavors in your mouth.
This is where you decide whether a rib-eye gets a rich Cabernet to enhance the richness of the meat or a fish needs a little zap of citrus from a crisp Chardonnay.
Time to get tasting!
If you find yourself in New Mexico this summer, head over to a D.H Lescombes Winery & Bistro in Albuquerque, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, or any of their tasting rooms across the state and try out this cheat sheet. With over 40 years of experience in New Mexico wines and amazing dishes crafted by master chefs, this is the perfect place to experiment with pairings.
Try a Signature Nosh Board with a glass of the Heritage Rosé. The Rosé is a perfect pairing for an appetizer board. It’s a wine that combines the crisp acidity of white wine and the fruitiness of a red. This wine can accommodate all the flavor profiles found on the board from the seasonal fruits to the creamy cheeses.
Now if you’re looking for a meal, try the popular Southwest Meatloaf with its mango chipotle sauce and Yukon gold mash with a wine that can stand up to the hearty meat but can complement the fruitiness of the mango–something like the Heritage Cabernet Sauvignon.
Happy tasting!
We’re grateful to St. Clair Wine for sponsoring this post.
St. Clair Wine is New Mexican grown and New Mexican made to nourish our desert souls. New Mexico is a flavor of life unlike any other. It’s soaked into the soil, hand-crafted into each bottle of wine.
