If you are hosting a Christmas party, everything’s got to be perfect. And that means the Food and the Wine should be an ideal culinary match.

If you are not sure which wines to serve with your meals, here are a few pairing tips to remember.

• The wine should be more acidic and sweeter than the food.

• The wine should be equal in intensity to the food.

• Red wines go best with bold flavored meats like red meats.

• White wines go best with light intensity meats like fish and chicken.

• Bitter wines, like red wines, will be well balanced by fatty foods.

• When in doubt, match the sauce to the wine rather than the meat.

• White, Sparkling and Rose wines are the most likely selections for contrasting pairings while red is a better choice for congruent pairings.

Note, contrasting pairings create balance with contrasting tastes and flavors while congruent pairings create balance by amplifying shared flavor compounds.

Identify the Tastes

In order to determine the best wine to go with your food, you have to figure out the taste of the food. While foods can taste wildly different, there are six main taste categories you will want to focus on. These include:

• Salty

• Acidic

• Sweet

• Bitter

• Fat

• Spicy

In general, wine will not have fat, spicy or salty flavor characteristics but it will have sweetness, bitterness and acidity.

To get most of the contrast and congruency when pairing wine with your food, keep the following in mind:

• Red wines are more bitter.

• White rose and sparkling wines are more acidic.

• Sweet wines are sweet.

It may be difficult to determine the flavors in food to figure out what will go the best. If you are having trouble, focus on each taste component to decide how it will be classified.

Examples of Complementary Wine and Food Meals

The following examples may get you headed in the right direction when it comes to pairing wine with your Christmas meal.

• Complementary: An acidic white wine will go well with macaroni that has a strong fatty, salty taste.

• Congruent: A creamy white wine will go well with macaroni that features a heavy cream sauce.

Wine Guide

Now, here are the characteristics of some commonly served wines:

• Sauvignon-Blanc: This wine is light bodied and high acidity.

• Chardonnay: Chardonnay has more body and lower acidity.

• Pinot Noir: Pinot Noir is light bodied and not very bitter.

• Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine is full bodied and bitter.

Serving the right wine with the right food will make your Christmas party a success. The suggestions in this article will get you started off on the right foot. Which wine food pairings do you think are best?

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