The old rule dictates white wine with fish, red wine with meat. Of course, all rules are a little bit of a cliché but generally it cannot be denied that white wine more often than not pairs best with fish. But a good rule of thumb is to think not of the color of the wine, but of its body and texture. Without getting too involved in the technicalities, white wine usually has a fair amount of acidity that works well with tart flavors such as lemon and vinegar. It also cuts through creamy sauces so it makes sense to pair a white Burgundy with a dish such as turbot. Lighter flavored seafood pairs well with Soave,Pinot Grigio or Muscadet from the Loire Valley, while oilier fish such as sardines may need a heavy, oaked Chardonnay. This can also work well with smoked salmon or you may prefer something a little fresher from farther north in Burgundy such as a Mâcon or Chablis. But delicate red wines such as Beaujolais, Chinon from the Loire or light, fruity Pinot Noirs can often match very well with tougher fish such as swordfish or tuna steaks.
I prefer red wine with paella, whether it has fish or not. I also like a dry fino sherry with mackerel and for a very special treat champagne with oysters. But why limit the rule to just fish? What about meat or vegetables? And of course that perennial dinner party course-the cheese board?
Again, it's best to think of how the wine leaves your mouth feeling. A dry, tannic red wine often leaves one's mouth bitter and the tastebuds dry. Heavy meat with a chewy texture can soften that sensation. As a rule of thumb, I prefer to serve red Bordeaux or Châteauneuf-du-Pape with beef, second choice would be a Chilean Syrah. With lamb, generally Rioja. Any sort of poultry or game goes very well with red Burgundy and Pinot Noir. Cru Beaujolais is also a good match.
In the summer months, I would not hesitate to match vegetable dishes with rosé wine, preferably a dry example from Provence. In the winter, a soft, ripe, smooth red wine low in tannin is the order of the day such as Californian Merlot or Argentinean Malbec.
Matching wine with cheese can pose all sorts of pitfalls as certain flavors associated with cheese can react badly with the tannin in red wine. Aged gouda, cheddar and mimolette cheese go very well with red Bordeaux. It may be a cliché but port and stilton work very well together. But in many cases, I prefer to serve a sweet white wine such as Sauternes, which goes superbly with Roquefort cheese.
If you are in any way unsure pairing cheese with wine, I would strongly recommend just opting for Comté. It's hugely versatile and its nutty, caramelized flavor matches superbly with white wines from the Loire such as Sancerre, light red Beaujolais, vintage Champagne and even heavy reds from the Languedoc-Roussillon. In fact, you could say it breaks all the rulebooks.
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傳統(tǒng)的規(guī)則說(shuō),白葡萄酒配海鮮,紅葡萄酒配紅肉。當(dāng)然,任何規(guī)則看上去都有點(diǎn)陳詞濫調(diào)的意思,但通常而言,白葡萄酒更配海鮮這是毋庸置疑的事實(shí)。不過(guò),還有一個(gè)更實(shí)用的基本原則,就是不要考慮葡萄酒的顏色,而是考慮葡萄酒的酒體(body)和質(zhì)地(texture)。用淺顯的非技術(shù)語(yǔ)言來(lái)講,白葡萄酒通常有一定的酸度,與檸檬和醋等酸味食品搭配得更好,還能讓富含乳脂的醬汁吃起來(lái)更可口,因此勃艮第(Burgundy)白葡萄酒與多寶魚(yú)這類海鮮很搭。味道偏清淡的海鮮適合與蘇瓦韋(Soave)、灰皮諾(Pinot Grigio)或盧瓦河谷的慕思卡黛(Muscadet)葡萄酒搭配,而沙丁魚(yú)這類油脂較多的海鮮則需要一款口感綿厚、橡木味重一些的霞多麗(Chardonnay)。霞多麗同樣適合煙熏三文魚(yú),但你也可以嘗試產(chǎn)自勃艮第區(qū)最北部的口感更清新的梅肯紅葡萄酒(Mâcon)或夏布利白葡萄酒(Chablis)。不過(guò),薄若萊、盧瓦河谷希儂等口感綿軟的紅酒,或者清淡果味的黑皮諾(Pinot Noirs),往往能很好地搭配肉質(zhì)粗厚一點(diǎn)的魚(yú)肉,如劍魚(yú)或金槍魚(yú)扒等。
我喜歡用紅酒配西班牙什錦飯,無(wú)論里頭有沒(méi)有海鮮;還喜歡用菲諾干型雪莉酒(fino sherry)配鯖魚(yú),用一款精品香檳配生蠔。不過(guò),為什么白葡萄酒一定要限于配海鮮呢口難道就不能配肉類或蔬菜嗎口還有那道晚宴上必不可少的經(jīng)典菜肴──奶酪拼盤(cheese board)?
現(xiàn)在,讓我們?cè)賮?lái)考慮一下葡萄酒的口感。一款丹寧豐富的干紅往往帶有一絲苦澀的余味,讓味蕾發(fā)干,而經(jīng)得起咀嚼的大肉能夠中和這種感覺(jué)。通常我喜歡用波爾多紅酒(Bordeaux)或教皇新古堡紅酒(Châteauneuf-du-Pape)來(lái)搭配牛肉,退而求其次的話,可以用智利的西拉干紅(Syrah):西班牙的里奧哈紅酒(Rioja)配羊肉很好:禽肉或野味與勃艮第紅酒和黑皮諾可謂天作之合,頂級(jí)博若萊(Cru Beaujolais)配起來(lái)也不錯(cuò)。
在夏日時(shí)光,我傾向于用玫瑰紅葡萄酒(rosé)配蔬菜類的菜肴,尤其是普羅旺斯(Provence)產(chǎn)區(qū)的一種干型玫瑰紅。在冬天,一款柔和、成熟、綿密、丹寧較低的紅酒是最佳的選擇,如加州的梅洛(Merlot)或阿根廷的馬爾貝克(Malbec)等。
用葡萄酒來(lái)配奶酪可能會(huì)遇到各種意想不到的問(wèn)題,因?yàn)槟汤視?huì)有一些特殊味道跟紅酒中的丹寧味格格不入。成熟的高德干酪(gouda),切達(dá)干酪(cheddar)和米摩雷特奶酪(mimolette)跟波爾多紅酒很配:另外,雖然有些老生常談,但波特葡萄酒(port)與斯提耳頓干酪(stilton)的確堪稱絕配。在很多情況下,我喜歡在吃洛克福藍(lán)紋乳酪(Roquefort )的時(shí)候,喝上一口蘇特恩(Sauternes)這樣的白葡萄甜酒,真是回味無(wú)窮。
如果你拿不定主意用什么奶酪來(lái)配葡萄酒,我強(qiáng)烈推薦孔泰奶酪(Comté)。它是一款百搭型的奶酪,那種果仁焦糖味與盧瓦河谷的桑榭爾(Sancerre)這樣的白葡萄酒、清淡的薄若萊紅酒、年份香檳甚至產(chǎn)自法國(guó)朗格多克-魯西永(Languedoc-Roussillon)地區(qū)的綿厚紅酒都很相配。事實(shí)上,可以說(shuō)這款奶酪無(wú)酒不搭,徹底打破了所有的紅酒配搭規(guī)則。
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