Wine and Food Pairing MGMT 252 Wine Industry Fenix Theuerkorn Vancouver Island University

Wine and Food Pairing MGMT 252 Wine Industry Fenix Theuerkorn Vancouver Island University

Objectives! Wine Tasting Points! Storing & Serving Wines! Food & Wine Pairing

Wine Tasting Points

Tasting Wine Steps 1. Clear your mind focus 2. Observe the colour (note) 3. Take a quick smell 4. Swirl the glass and note the legs 5. Take a good smell (note) 6. Take a taste (note) 7. Repeat once more if necessary

Level 1 WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting! Colour: red rosè white! Condition: clean faulty! Sweetness: dry medium sweet! Body: light medium full-body! Flavour Character: fruity, floral, spicy, vegetal! Other: acidity, tannin, oak

Wine Faults - Visual! Sight Faults! Slight effervesce! Caused by 2 nd fermentation in the bottle! Exception: do not confuse this with bubbles cause by vigorous pouring! Cloudy or sediment present! Cause: Poorly filtered wine! Exception: when wine states it is unfiltered or is an older wine, as wines that are 10 years or older typically will have sediments! Brown colour! Cause: Wine has been exposed to sun and/or excessive oxygen! Exceptions: Old wine will brown despite the best care

Wine Faults - Smell! Aroma Faults! Vinegary! Wine should have been filter and void of oxygen as it was infected by acetobacter! Exception: None, unless you re tasting balsamic vinegar! Musty! Cause: Wine has been infected by Brettanomyces (Brett) and this is due to older unclean equipment and poor filtering! Exception: there are some old world wines that have hints of this to produce their character! Nail Varnish! Cause: Excessive volatile acidity (VA) formed during fermentation or from a post-fermentation bacterial infection! Exceptions: All wines have some VA and everyone has different tolerances, but excessive VA in wine should be avoided

Storing & Serving Wine

Aging Wine! Most wines today are ready to drink as soon as they are for sale! Typically best enjoyed within a year or two from purchase! In the past, wine was meant to be cellared due to:! Grapes were picked less ripe with more astringent acid and tannins! Riper fruit was harder to control without technology! The greener grapes needed time to soften! Current consumer taste s enjoy full fruit wines

When to drink! Few wines can age, but these are indicated by:! Label! Wine experts! Generally, inexpensive (under $50) wines do not age well, more expensive wines can last up to 5 years! Whites, Rosés, and nonvintage champagne should be drunk within a year! Red Wines should be drunk within 2 years

Wine Exceptions White Wine! New World Chardonnay (up to 5 yrs.)! Hunter Valley Semillon (up to 20 years) gets toasty and honeyed! Riesling (8+ yrs.)! Tokaji (up to 10 yrs.)! White Burgundy (5-10 yrs.) Red Wine! Australian Reds (7-8 yrs.)! Barolo & Barbaresco (10 yrs.)! Red Bordeaux & California (4-7 yrs.)! Rhône (10-12 yrs.)! Rioja Gran Reserva (6-8 yrs.)! Vintage Port (min. 10yrs.)

The right storage! To store wine the temperature must be fairly consistent! Rapid temperature changes can be most damaging! The ideal temperature is between 7-15 C! Too low a temperature is OK, but if it freezes, then the cork can push out! Lower temperatures can slow wine maturity! Too high of temperature (20+ C) can begin to damage sparkling, white, and rosé wines. At 21-22 C reds are at risk! Avoid storing your wines in those nifty racks for the living room or kitchen! Avoid UV light!

Temperature to serve! Think of cellar temperatures!! Most reds are serve too warm! Room temperature use to mean the maximum of18 C not average 21+ C of today! Light reds should be served cooler (put 30-60 minutes in a fridge)! White wine should be between 6-11 C! Water with ice is an excellent source to keep white wine cool

Temperature for Whites, Rosé, & Sparkling Wine Style Medium-Full Bodied Oaked White e.g. White Burgundy Crisp/Light-Medium Bodied White e.g. Pinot Grigio Sweet Wines e.g. Ice Wine, Sauternes Sparkling Wines e.g. Champagne, Cava, Asti Service Temp. Slightly Chilled 12 C Chilled 10 C Well Chilled 6-8 C Well Chilled 6-8 C

Temperature for Reds Wine Style Light Bodied Red e.g. Beaujolais, Valpolicella Medium/Full Bodied Red e.g. Burgundy, Shiraz, Chateauneuf-du- Pape Service Temp. Slightly Chilled 12 C Room Temperature 17-18 C

Where to store wine?! Garage can be a poor choice if there are strong chemical odors! Wine fridges start at $199 (Sears)! Cellar kit $2,000 - $5,000 USD! Store at a wine storage units http://www.winevault.ca/

Lying down or standing?! Lying bottles down is always a safe bet!! Allows corks to stay moist and maintain the seal for the wine.! Standing is fine for:! Champagne as the pressure helps maintain the seal! Bottles with synthetic or twist tops are fine standing up

Decant wine?! No real evidence either way! Decant advocates claim that wine exposed to air enhances aroma! Critics claim that pouring wine into a glass does the same! When to really decant:! Young wines that need to open-up! Really old wines, so sediment can me carefully removed

Serving different wines! General rule of thumb when serving various wines at a dinner party or wine tasting event:! Lighter to heavier! Wine to red! Dry to sweet! Time of day is often a consideration! Lunch time is not the best for a full bodied, high alcohol red wine! Left over wine! Wine savers (vacuums just OK)! Recork & standing in fridge (couple of days)! If less than ½ bottle pour into a demi and cork! Champagne stoppers work well as the pressure helps pressure bubbles

Formal Occasions 50 people minimum amounts! 9-10 bottles of sparkling wine for a toast! 9-10 bottles of white wine! 11-12 bottles of red wine! Adequate amount of non alcoholic drinks

Food & Wine

Traditional thoughts! Red wine with red meat and white wine with poultry and fish WRONG!! It does not matter, drink what you like WRONG!! Wine needs to match the predominant food flavour CORRECT!

Some old rules! Old world rule that still works! Drink the local wine with the local food! Proven over time as they have influenced each other

Changing landscape! Wines & foods of past (20+ years ago)! Reds were generally very tannic! Whites typically were very light! Foods were fairly traditional! Today! Reds vary in tannin levels! Whites have increased in body! Fusion foods are more typical

Major Food Considerations! Weight! Influenced from cooking method! Poaching, steaming, and stir fry produce lighter foods! Braising, roasting, and frying create heavier foods! Marinating creates heavier foods as the flavour is more intense! Heavier foods require fuller wines and the opposite is true! Sauces! Sauces can change foods and become the predominant flavour to pair, i.e. Coq Au Vin will pair red wine and chicken! Food Trimmings! Often trimmings provide the flavour profile to match, i.e. Christmas Turkey with the trimmings will likely go with a full red

Intensity of Flavour! Not always linked with weight! A light food can have intense flavours! Asparagus! Asian vegetarian dishes (i.e. Vietnamese, Thai, etc.)! Caesar Salad (hand made not creamy)! A lighter wine will not overwhelm these dishes, i.e. sauvignon blanc, riesling, etc.! Sauces that have been reduced for concentration of flavour will require fuller bodied wines, i.e. oaked chardonnay, shiraz, etc.

Acidity! Acidic foods:! Tomato sauce! Citrus! Vinaigrette! Cooler region wines far well! Sauvignon blanc! Riesling! Chablis! Beaujolais! Chianti! If the wine is not acidic then it will taste flat and flabby

Sweetness! Sweet foods require sweet wines! Wine must at least be as sweet as the food (or more)! If the wine is less sweet, it will taste tart and mean! Fruits in savory dishes can throw this rule off! Go with a fruiter wine

Wines with oak or fruit! Assertive flavours in wine can limit food choices! Heavily oaked (Bordeaux, oaked chardonnay, etc.) wines require robust foods! Big ripe fruit wines require intensive food flavours

Food considerations! Salads check the dressing! Pasta match the sauce! Oily fish avoid tannic wines! Salty foods acidic or fruity wines! Spicy Acidic, young, and aromatic (gewürztraminer)! Curry Acidic whites! Cheese Best is sweet white Next is dry white Full red is the worst

Guarantee pairing success! If your dish has a complex sauce add a bit of the wine you will drink to the sauce