Food & Wine Pairing: Acid & Acid Rule

Video Transcript

"Hi, these are the real rules of food and wine pairing and this is rule number one. Its rule number one, and it's the most important rule. And rule number one is acid in food makes acid in wine go away. In other words, if your food has any acid in it, if it has lemon, vinegar, tomato, fruit, anything pickled, anything with capers, anything like that, it is going to make your wine tasteless acidic. And actually, acidity is one of the major taste components in wine. It's what makes it taste good. So, if you've ever picked up a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and you thought it was so incredibly acidic, you didn't understand, what you do with that wine, is you pair it up with acidic food. Take a plate of pasta with tomato, take a fish with lemon squeezed over it. Take a sip of your white wine. Your white wine will taste less acidic. So, if you're going to have acid in your food, you need to pair it up with a wine that's very, very acidic to begin with. The acid in the food will smooth out the acidity in the wine and make it taste perfect. Watch out for the correlation of that rule though. If you start with a low acid wine, and pair it up with acidic foods, you'll taste the acid in the wine less, and your wine will taste flat. Highly acidic wines include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sauvignon. Low acid wines include Viognier and Gewurztraminer. Red wines have a good deal of acidity in them also, especially Gamete, and Pinot Noir. So, the number one rule: acid in food makes acid in wine go away. Be careful with the balance of your foods, if you're serving it with a nicely acidic wine. Good luck with that one"