Much has been written in culinary history about wine pairing nirvana – the quest to match the perfect wine to the perfect dish. For many years there seemed to be a strict set of break-only-if-you-dare rules where anyone not in the ‘know’ was quietly frowned upon. Thankfully the pendulum has swung and it’s now more about ‘drink whatever you enjoy with whatever you enjoy eating’. Having said that, there are still times – particularly if you don’t know too much about wines – when it would be handy to have a few guidelines, a few tips to help make your evening, event or celebration a gastronomic success. And underpinning all of these suggestions is the quest for balance. In short, it’s all about weight – the weight or heaviness of the dish versus the heaviness of the wine, because what you don’t want is for one to overpower the other. So here are a few N1 guidelines to help you make the perfect match, course for course.
Hors d’ oeuvres
Rosé is always a good choice to serve with most starters – it has the lightness of white wine with the more subtle notes of red. It’s particularly enjoyable in warmer weather when first courses are often served cold. Durbanville Hills do a refreshing and crisp Merlot Rosé which is ideal paired with a variety of foods including mezze platters, salads and light seafood dishes. Another blush wine which complements this type of first-course fare is white Zinfandel, normally an off-dry to slightly sweet wine. Blaauwklippen produce an excellent Zinfandel Blanc de Noir for which their 2009 vintage won a Michelangelo gold medal.
Main Course
If fish is your main dish, then typically a crisp white wine is your best choice. When in doubt, remember that anything you can squeeze a lemon or lime on is best accompanied by a white wine. This is also true for any dish with tart dressings and sauces, because the zippiness of most white wines is not easily overpowered by anything tangy or zesty. Sauvignon Blanc is an ideal choice that complements both seafood and citrus-based sauces. Boschendal produce a variety of award-winning Sauvignon Blanc, as do Zevenwacht, particularly their Z 360° which was a winner in the 2014 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 Competition.
If your choice of seafood leans more towards a fattier fish like Butterfish or Snoek, or if you’re serving something like chicken in a creamy and lush sauce; then Chardonnay is a better option. Chardonnay is a more full-bodied wine which means it’s better able to balance the richness of certain foods.
If red meat is your main dish, then you’ll want to go with red wines. The tannins in red wine give it a firmness which is an ideal complement to luxurious meats. Perfect with a juicy steak is a young Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a full-bodied wine, which due to its high levels of tannins, needs the heaviness of red meat or the richness of a cream sauce to neutralise the tannins. As the Cabernet ages, so it pairs better with more subtle dishes. Excellent vintners to try are Spier who this year won a Gold Veritas Wine Award for their 21 Gables Cabernet Sauvignon 2011; and Villiera who received a 3.5 (out of 5) star rating on Best Value Wine Guide, a site dedicated to finding the best South African wines less than R80. For earthier foods like venison, wild mushrooms or anything truffle-laced, you might want to try an earthier red such as a Pinot Noir – this is a light to medium-bodied dry red wine with fruity notes.
Dessert
And then to perfectly end off your evening, consider the following pointers to help you choose your wine. If your dessert is fruit-based it is best accompanied by a slightly sweet wine such as Gewürztraminer. Robertson Winery produce a Gewürztraminer which is also well suited to mild and soft cheeses should you decide to serve a cheese platter as your last course. If your dessert is custard or vanilla-based then a sparkling wine like Bliss Demi Sec NV by Graham Beck is the perfect partner. And finally, if your dessert is chocolate-based then you’ll want to consider a port or late harvest wine such as the award-winning Delheim Spatzendreck.
As Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, ‘wine is bottled poetry’ so enjoy the wide variety of poetry and when planning your perfect pairing, be sure to contact N1 to find out more about their range of high-quality meats and venison.