When preparing a wonderful meal, the ultimate addition is a great wine pairing. The wine you serve with a meal can enhance the flavours and the experience, resulting in an unforgettable feast. Or the wine can be wasted, overpowered by strong flavours or simply taste a little strange in combination with your food. If you are mystified about how to pair wines with food, check out these “rules”. Of course, you do have to remember that these wine rules are just for guidance. The fun comes from experimenting on your own and finding new and surprising pairings that can really blow people away.

1. Fancy V Every Day

While it may be fun sometimes to celebrate a special occasion with a burger and a prized bottle of Pinot Noir, the general rule is that a simple meal requires a simple wine and that the pricier wines are better paired with a more elaborate or pricey meal.

2. Delicate and Bold Favours

If your meal contains strong, robust flavours then you will probably be best suited to a strong, robust wine. You will need a strong flavour in the wine to pair with the strong flavours in a hot curry, or a rich roast. On the other hand, a dish with delicate and subtle flavours will be overpowered by such a bold wine. In this case, you should choose a lighter and less flavourful wine.

3. Versatility

Sometimes wine is very popular for drinking on its own but it doesn’t go well with many foods. It has a taste that is very distinctive and does not pair easily. Choose wines with food that are more versatile, with a taste that does not overpower food but works with it.

4. Fruity or Salty Flavours

If you have a fruity dish or a meal with a lot of fruity flavours then it makes sense to serve a fruity wine. There are many different wines out there with a pleasant fruity aroma, which work wonderfully with dishes that contain apple, plum, or dried fruit. You can also look for an acidic wine when you have a dish with salty flavours. The acid taste in the win balances out the salty taste of the food for a pleasing result. You can also achieve this balance by adding a sweet wine like a strawberry wine when you are serving savoury food that contains salty flavours.

If you want more inspiration, check out wine pairing made easy with this wine pairing chart – http://withmywine.com/wine-pairing-chart/

Read more at http://www.decanter.com/learn/food/recipes-2/food-and-wine/the-10-rules-of-food-and-wine-pairing-by-karen-macneil-289376/#gAzxlhhCdh8TSExf.99