Wine accompaniment: leave aside the classic marriages

See our advice on food and wine pairings

Accompanying wine: how not to make a mistake?

In order not to make mistakes in pairings, we tend to limit ourselves to the basic rules of gastronomy . You can read on a site or in a recipe that you should take a powerful red wine to accompany a dish of red meat and a full-bodied or dry white wine for a dish of seafood or fish.

You can go all out for weddings that are out of the ordinary for the perfect dinner party . Let your inventive side speak in the kitchen to find a new pairing.

accompanying wine

Create a perfect pairing between wine and dish

To have a balance of flavors on the palate, you have to follow certain rules. Choose a more refined wine if you're going to cook up a fancy dish . And you don't need a grand cru to find a successful food and wine pairing.

A simpler wine will go perfectly with a simpler dish. Avoid any marriage between "refined wine" and "simple dish", because the wine can overwhelm the tastes of the dish. In case you have a few bottles for the evening or for the meal, you must also choose a wine for each stage.

For the aperitif, it is recommended to drink a dry white wine , a semi-dry or a sweet, because these have the particularity of awakening and whet the appetite. Also remember to prepare your bottles in order to present the wine in its best light and to have successful pairings. For this, it is advisable to put the bottle of wine in the refrigerator the day before and a few hours before serving it at the table, open it.

The order of wines for your meal

If you have several bottles of wine, it will also be necessary to organize their entry during the meal so that the taste buds of your guests are always receptive. As an aperitif, take a bottle of sparkling wine. This one will create an explosion of flavors on the palate with foie gras toast.

Choose the wine for the starter according to the ingredients: if you have a cheese soufflé for the starter, take an AOC Côtes du Jura white .

For the main course, it will also be necessary to respect the classic agreements so as not to spoil the rest of the meal. After the main course, you can serve a plate of goat cheese with a bottle of Loire wine.

The ideal dish for dry white wine

It is not always easy to pair dry white wine with food . However, you can impress your guests by accompanying your fish dish with or without sauce with a Loire, Burgundy or Bordeaux white wine .

These white wines can also create a perfect pairing with a dish of seafood or goat cheese. With a cow's cheese, prefer a bottle of white wine from Burgundy.

For your dish, you can also serve an Alsace wine such as Sylvaner or Pinot Blanc . For Alsace wines, you will have to be careful, because some wines are stronger in taste and this could spoil your fish dish.

Coq au vin is a dish that also goes very well with a white Burgundy wine.

Also discover "Which wines to accompany with an osso bucco?"

A perfect dish with a sweet white wine

If you have a preference for white wines, you can serve a sweet white from the Loire or a sweet wine from Bordeaux during the meal.

Try to find a Coteaux de Layon , a Quart de Chaume or a Sauternes to enhance the taste of foie gras or blue cheese. Blue-veined cheeses such as Bleu or Fourme d'Ambert find a perfect balance with a sweet white wine.

The flavors of dishes with mild spices will also be enhanced with this type of wine . Also try to find a perfect balance with a sweet white wine from Hungary for these dishes.

Find out which wines to pair with risotto.

A strong and fatty dish for a full-bodied red wine

If you plan to serve duck, game, beef, lamb or mutton as the main course, consider quenching your guests' thirst with a bottle of full-bodied red wine .

You will have on the palate a balance of flavor between met wine. For this, you can take tannic red wine from the Southwest or Médoc . You will also have a perfect pairing if you serve it with a plate of characterful cheeses. Cordon Bleus also recommend full-bodied red wine to accompany spicy exotic meat dishes.

The supple and fruity red wine for the aperitif

As this wine is less strong on the palate, it will be difficult to find a perfect match with a fairly refined dish. If you have a bottle of Beaujolais or Loire Valley red wine in your collection, you can serve it as an aperitif— it pairs well with charcuterie, goat cheese, and milder cow cheese .

You can still try to cook a dish with white meat to accompany the supple and fruity red wine . To complete this fruity note of the wine, pork in sweet and sour sauce would also be ideal.

accompanying wine

A Burgundy red wine at the table

For this wine, we will surely recommend meat. However, favor pork, veal, poultry that must be prepared roasted or grilled .

If you plan to serve a red wine from Burgundy, you must pay attention to the spices in the kitchen. You have to take out a simple dish so as not to mask the subtlety of the pinot noir . Soft cow cheeses will also be tastier on the palate if you accompany it with a good red Burgundy wine .

Dare the very aromatic Alsace wine

This wine comes from particularly acidic and refreshing grape varieties, which makes it difficult to pair with a dish.

For this type of wine, apply yourself in the preparation of a dish of asparagus, eggs with salmon, spring rolls .

For a particularly spicy dish or drizzled with coconut milk, you can take a bottle of Gewurztraminer.

A chocolate dessert

If you find the wine that will create the perfect pairing with the dessert, you will finish this meal in apotheosis. You will have to be careful, because the bitterness of the chocolate can spoil the sweet touch of the wine.

If you used dark chocolate in the preparation of your dessert, it should be served with a natural sweet wine such as Maury or Banyuls . Also choose your wine according to the ingredients of your chocolate dessert.