A Guide to Pairing Red and White Wines With Food

6 January 2020

If you still can’t tell your cabernet apart from your chardonnay, and what to pair them with, here’s an easy way to get started. Sante!

Tastes may differ when it comes to wine and food choices, but it turns out that there is a science when it comes to wine and food pairings. Lest you write it off as some snobbish, irrelevant decorum for fine dining, getting the right tipple to match your meal actually matters. Here, a guide to matching some of the most common wines to several food groups.

Reds
- Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon: Dishes including juicy red meats and cured, smoked meats and hard cheese accent the wines’ healthy level of tannins and oaky flavours
- Merlot and Sangiovese: Its light tasting flavour pairs it with red and white meats well and cheeses
- Pinot Noir, Pinotage and Grenache: Its light-bodied but flavourful nature makes it great for dishes with earthy flavours, rich fish and hard cheese

Sparkling Wine
Champagne, Prosecco and Cava: Fish, hard and soft cheeses and green veggies

White
- Chardonnay, oaked whites and viognier: The wine’s silky smooth flavour complements fatty fish, fish in rich sauces, carbs, roasted veggies, white meat marvelously.
- Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Moscato: Soft and hard cheeses,
- Sauvignon Blanc: Tangy foods like scallops and oysters add gravity to the fresh, zippy, lively flavours of this wine.
- Champagne: Pop the bubbly when you’re serving something salty, as its sweet undertones will neutralise the flavour.

Check out all of merewards' 1-for-1 dining deals here!