Pairings for a red wine: 4 ideal combinations

The art of achieving a good wine pairing lies in knowing how to combine flavors and aromas. The basic theory is that strong-tasting dishes go well with full-bodied wines and light dishes pair very well with low-bodied wines. This with the idea of enhancing the flavors, without running over each other.

This responds to one of the pairing rules, but outside of them there are many nuances, since taste always depends on each person. On wine and food pairing, we will mention some ideas to consider:

1. Cheese

Whether they are part of the pairing rules or not, there are combinations between types of cheeses and wines that are worth trying. Like blue cheeses, such as Roquefort, and strong, full-bodied red wines. Sheep or cow cheese and hard cheeses like Manchego, goes very well with structured red wines with a wood presence.

And the mix that should not be missed without giving it a try is the one between Cheddar cheese or Feta cheese and light red wines.

2. Meats

In general, red meat has a lot of nutrients, and for the same reason, a lot of flavor. Especially when cooking them on the grill, where they are wrapped in fire and smoke, so the pairing wine must have a good structure to be at the same level.

According to experts, a wine with good acidity and tannin concentration, which can be even moderately young, is a perfect alternative for grilled meats. And if you are going to put a sauce with a sweet touch, it is ideal to combine the wine with it, being good options for this case a Pinot Noir, which is softer, or a Zinfandel.

3. Fish

The key to pairing wine and food, specifically wine and fish, is that together they enhance all their flavors. For this reason, the most common is to accompany the smooth texture of the fish with light wines.

The typical rule of accompanying fish with white wines, today many are putting it aside and dares to pair it with a red wine. Nowadays there are young, soft and fruity red wines that perfectly enhance the flavor of fish and shellfish, without masking them.

In addition, oily fish with a high fat content, such as tuna, salmon and trout, pair very well with red wines, even those with carbonic maceration.

4. Pasta

In wine and pasta pairing, the choice of wine recurrently depends on the sauce. For example, if the dish has filetto sauce, a simple combination of tomato, garlic and herbs, the wines that pair best with it, are the refreshing and fruity ones like Pinot Noir.

In the case of the classic Bolognese sauce, which has an infinite number of variations but where minced meat and tomato cannot be absent, the profile of the wine must have a slight degree of tannins and good fruit. This to compensate in flavor and not to burden the palate at the same time.

 

Light bodied wines and others

At Cono Sur Vineyards we know about pairings. In addition to the red wine Cabernet Sauvignon, in Chile and at this same vineyard, other varieties with fresh, elegant and light tones are produced, such as Pinot Noir. It is a wine with fine tannins that has a subtle smoked presence, with excellent texture. A great alternative to enjoy quality wines.