Do you want to open a very special bottle and are you looking for an idea for a dish to pair with it? Here are some tips to help you avoid making a mistake.
Light and fruity red: This is a red that you want to sip at any time! A gurgling wine, with a strong drinkability, a lovely fruit that explodes in the mouth, tangy or gourmet, and few tannins. As an aperitif, to accompany cold meats. At the meal, with vegetarian dishes, tuna, stuffed vegetables, meat tartares. Or for dessert, with red fruits.
Fruity and structured red: This is a red with a nice balance between fruit and tannins. Enough fruit to be juicy and easy to drink, and tannins that are fleshy enough to accompany meats and more structured dishes. A nice in-between that will please most people. It will work wonders served with lasagna, vegetarian meals with legumes, grilled or roasted red meats, such as prime rib or duck breast.
Full-bodied and warm red: This is a red that holds its own; it is best accompanied by a dish to highlight it. A wine with structure, muscular, ample in the mouth, with very ripe fruits, or black fruits, and sometimes a little wood or animal notes. It will go well with meats in sauce, such as beef bourguignon, as well as game, such as wild boar or venison. It also goes well with smoked meats, such as Morteau sausage, and forest sauces. Some strong and very mature cheeses can compete with the tannins, but be careful all the same. Dark chocolate desserts form a nice balance with this wine.
Dry and mineral white: This is a lively white that awakens the taste buds and makes you salivate. A well-taut wine, sometimes almost saline, with even hints of flint. Very thirst-quenching and energetic. Perfect as an aperitif, it will brilliantly accompany seafood, shellfish and white fish. Smoked fish or fish in oil also make a great match. All vegetables enhance it. It brings freshness to a raclette or fondue, and goes well with fresh cheeses.
Dry, fruity and expressive white: This is a slightly rounded, comforting, even gourmet white. A wine that lets the fruit express itself, whether it is white-fleshed or riper, as well as the flowers. We uncork it for an aperitif with our eyes closed. Scallops, white and river fish, but also grilled or creamed white meats go wonderfully with it. Just like gratins, carbonara pasta and purées. For cheese, we have a choice, it goes with almost everything. For dessert, ripe fruits, cream desserts and cakes will be very good.
Oxidative: This is a very typical white, very expressive. A wine that recalls nuts, honey, and even curry sometimes. Very strong in taste, it explodes in the mouth. The pairings are striking with spices and sweet and sour. It enhances mushroom crust or snails with parsley butter. An old comté and it's the perfect marriage!
Oranges: This is a maceration white: instead of being pressed directly and removed, the grapes remain infused in the juice. This brings a little tannins, but above all completely different aromas. A wine that goes from citrus to exotic fruits, but without sugar! Thirst-quenching, aromatic, intriguing. It is sufficient in itself for an aperitif. It highlights spices and sweet-savory dishes, as well as foie gras. And for dessert, it is perfect with strawberries and cream, exotic fruits and citrus fruits.
Rosés: It is a red, but with a much shorter maceration of the grains. A light, fruity, thirst-quenching wine, but which can also be very aromatic and complex. A wine that reminds us of vacations, the sun, but not only! Rosé is a bit of a chameleon, as comfortable as an aperitif as with a meal with ratatouilles, couscous, paellas, gratins, fish, but also grilled meats (the famous barbecue with friends), and fruit desserts or cakes.
Bubbles: This is a sparkling wine. Bubbles have their fans, whether they are fine or very present, mineral or more aromatic; there is something for everyone. They often accompany you during your big important moments, but can also be drunk at any time. If it is white, it will be perfect as an aperitif or with seafood. It will awaken the taste buds with poultry in cream or a brie/camembert. If it is rosé, it will go like a still rosé wine, that is to say with just about everything (except meat dishes that are too full-bodied). If it is orange, it will also have its little effect as an aperitif or with dessert, like a classic orange wine.
Liquoreux: A sweet wine is a wine with more than 45 g/l of residual sugar. It can be produced in late harvest (the grapes are harvested later in the season so that they ripen more and there is less water in the grain, which concentrates the aromas and sugar) or in noble rot (the grapes are in a humid environment, which promotes the development of a fungus called Botrytis cinerea which settles on the envelope of the grain and absorbs the humidity from the inside of the grain). It is most often served to accompany desserts, but it also goes well with foie gras, certain spices and blue cheeses.
That's it for the pairings according to the type of wine, if you want ideas for wines according to a type of dish, go to our article "Wine pairings according to the type of dish".
