Wine Traditions - how wine is made and how to pair wine with different food types
Newly harvested grapes, whether red or white, are first lightly crushed to bring the sugar-rich juices into contact with the yeasts in the grape skins' "bloom".
For young white wines and some reds (eg. simple Beaujolais) that do not gain complexity from ageing, the crushed grape juice may be steeped, or macerated, with the grape skins for a few hours to add aroma and flavour.
Red wine gets its backbone from tannins present in red grape skins. The stems also contain tannins, but of a harsher kind; most winemakers destem most or all of their red grapes before they are pressed.
White wine uses only free-run or lightly pressed juice for the freshest and fruitiest flavors. For red wine, the grapes are pressed again more thoroughly, and this vin de presse, rich in tannins and other flavor elements, can be blended back into the wine as needed.
Fermentation is a natural process but can be unpredictable; nowadays, many growers use cultured yeasts and hygienic, temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks to control fermentation and ensure consistent results.
Early drinking wines may be filtered straight into their bottles, but barrels are used to age many finer wines. The flavours imparted by the oak are an integral part of many wines' identities - for example, the tobaccoey, "wood-shavings" character of red Bordeaux.
Which Wine With What?
- Always match your wine to the strongest flavour on plate.
- Balance the weight of the dish with wine. Simple dishes, simple wines.
- Fatty, greasy and salty dishes need a dry wine with good acidity to clean the plate.
- Highly spiced dishes call for big, flavorful wines.
- Cream suaces and butter require wines with good fruit and some residual sugar.
- Ensure that your dessert wine is sweeter than the dessert; otherwise, it will taste sharp.
- If you like your meals rare, choose yound red wines with a touch of tannin.
- For well-done, select mature or fruity reds with little discernable tannin.
Wine With Dinner
| Type of Food | Wine |
| Salmon, lobster, crab | Chardonnay, off-dry Riesling, Vidal, full-dry white table wine |
| White fish | Dry Riesling, dry Vidal/Seyval Blanc, m-bodied white table wine |
| Beef, lamb, duck | Pinot Noir, Cabernet Blend, Marechal Foch, dry red table wine |
| Shrimps, scallops, oysters, mussels | Aligote, Auxerrois, dry Riesling, crisp dry white table wine |
| Cheeses |
|
| Ham, pork, hamburger | Gamay, Cabernet Franc, light red table wine |
| Veal, chicken | Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, light red table wine, dry or off-dry white table wine. |