Food and Wine Matching

Still nervous about the whole food and wine matching thing?
It isn’t an art, or a mystery...

Essentially, it’s about balance: choosing a wine that doesn’t dominate your meal – or disappear under the weight of it. There’s no right or wrong, and people hardly ever die from making a poor choice. So, don’t sweat the small stuff.

There are two simple ways of making great food and wine matches:

Contrasts or Complements.

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Let's start with hot tips

Sparkling is an incredibly versatile food wine: it loves salt, umami and smoke flavours; and its combination of acid and bubbles helps it cut across fats and oils, which makes it a dream combination with a traditional Fish and Chips!

Surprisingly, chocolate and dry red wine is not a match made in heaven: the tannins in each can interact, causing unpleasant bitterness.

BUT – for a mind-blowing taste experience, try pairing white chocolate with… Sauvignon Blanc! Choose a tropical, passionfruity Australian or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and get ready to be astounded.

Contrasting Matches

Black and White? Truffles and Fries?

Contrasting matches take the opposites attract approach - pitching flavour and texture combos from opposite ends of the spectrum to create balance.

Think: a lively young Riesling with scallops in a rich coconut sauce: sweet, luscious Tawny partnered with a stinky blue cheese; or a crisp young Chardonnay with rice and pasta dishes.

Complementary Matches

Pink and Red? Chili and Crab?

A complementary match balances the weight, texture, and flavour of the food with a similarly weighted and flavoured wine.

Think: aromatic and zesty Riesling with Thai red curry… full-bodied Cabernet with a rich Rendang style dish… earthy Pinot Noir with Mushroom based stir fry dishes.

There are a couple of notoriously tricky foods to wine match: asparagus, artichoke, green beans for example. With these, complementary matching is the way to go. Imagine herbaceous cool climate Sauvignon Blanc with a green bean salad.

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