The Wine Traveller's Guide to Pairing Wine with Food

Read Time: 6 minutes

Wine tastes different with food. Here is what is actually happening in the glass.

The first time I really understood wine pairing, I was in Rioja.

We were visiting a winery and the winemaker sat us down with three glasses: a Joven (the youngest Tempranillo, no oak ageing), a Crianza, and a Reserva. We tasted through all three without food. I loved the Joven, fresh and easy and immediately likeable. The Reserva I struggled with. It felt heavy, grippy, a little austere. Too much for where I was at with wine at that point.

Then we moved to the table. There was a charcuterie board, jamon iberico, salchichon, some bread. The winemaker told me to go back to the two wines I felt most strongly about, the one I loved and the one I didn't, and try them again with the meat.

The Joven was still nice, but something had shifted. A bit of that fresh fruit had flattened out and the wine felt simpler alongside the food than it had on its own. But the Reserva? With a slice of jamon? It was a completely different wine. The fat and protein in the meat softened the tannins, the salt in the jamon drew out the fruit, and suddenly this wine that had felt heavy and difficult on its own was the most interesting thing I had tasted all trip.

That is the thing nobody tells you when you start drinking wine. Wine is not designed to be tasted in isolation. It is designed for the table. And once you understand what food actually does to wine at a chemical level, you stop guessing and start choosing with confidence.

Here is what I wish someone had explained to me before that trip.

How Food Changes the Way Wine Tastes

When you eat alongside wine, several things happen simultaneously, and all of them shift what you perceive in the glass.

Tannins love fat and protein

Tannins are the compounds in red wine that create that gripping, drying sensation on your gums and tongue. They bind to proteins in your saliva, which is what creates that drying feeling. When you introduce fat and protein from food into the equation, the tannins have something else to bind to instead. The grip softens. The wine opens up. What felt heavy and austere on its own suddenly feels structured and complex.

This is why a big tannic Cabernet Sauvignon or a Reserva Tempranillo that seems almost too much to drink on its own becomes the perfect companion for a fatty cut of beef, a piece of aged cheese, or a plate of cured meat. The fat does the work the wine cannot do by itself.

Tannins love fat and protein. The richer the food, the more a big red wine will open up alongside it.

Acidity cuts through richness

Wine acidity works like a squeeze of lemon on a plate. It cuts through fat, butter and cream, resets the palate between bites, and makes the next mouthful taste as fresh as the first. This is why a crisp white alongside a buttery sauce, or a dry rosé with grilled prawns, works so well. The wine is doing the same job the lemon wedge is doing: keeping everything clean and bright.

High acidity in wine = versatile food wine. It cuts through richness and keeps the palate fresh.

Salt in food softens bitterness and draws out fruit

Salt suppresses bitterness and amplifies sweetness. In wine terms, this means the salt in cured meat, aged cheese or briny seafood will soften the bitter edge of tannins and make the fruit in the wine seem more generous and expressive. That slice of jamon in Rioja was doing exactly this. The salt drew out the fruit in the Reserva and softened its grip. The wine tasted more alive because of what was on the plate.

Salt in food makes tannic wine taste fruitier and softer. It is why cheese and charcuterie are such reliable wine companions.

What grows together goes together

Regional pairings exist because the food and wine of a place evolved alongside each other over centuries. Spanish lamb with Rioja. Malbec with Argentinian BBQ. Bordeaux with a bordelaise sauce literally named after the region. When you are not sure where to start, lean into the regional pairing and it will almost always work.

Match the sauce, not just the protein

One of the most useful pairing shifts you can make is to think about the dominant flavour of the dish rather than just the main ingredient. A chicken breast in a rich cream sauce needs a wine with enough acidity or body to stand up to the fat of the sauce, not a delicate white that will disappear. The same chicken grilled with lemon and herbs is a completely different pairing proposition. Match the wine to the overall flavour and weight of the dish, not just what the protein is.

Congruent vs complementary pairings

There are two ways a pairing can work. A congruent pairing works because the wine and the food share flavours, the smokiness in a Shiraz echoing the char on a piece of grilled meat, for example. A complementary pairing works by contrast, a crisp white cutting through a creamy sauce. Both approaches are valid. The best pairings often do a bit of both at once.

Pairing by Wine Style

The simplest way to approach wine pairing is to think by style and weight rather than colour. A light red and a light white can often pair with similar dishes. A full-bodied red and a rich, oaked white both need richness on the plate. Here is a guide by style, with one featured pairing from our range per section.

Light Reds

Pinot Noir is the benchmark here, and one of the most important red varieties in the world. Light reds have lower tannin, bright acidity and fresh red fruit character. Serve them lightly chilled (14 to 16 degrees) and they become the most versatile reds at the table, working with poultry, mild spice, charcuterie and dishes that would be overwhelmed by a heavier wine. Chilled reds are a newer concept for many drinkers but follow exactly the same principle: less tannin, more fruit, better with food than most people expect.

See Saw Incubator Range Marge, Chilled Red: Pair with Thai-style Satay Chicken.  This works because the bright acidity and soft tannins cut through the peanut sauce, while the dark cherry fruit stands up to mild spice. One of the few reds that genuinely works with bold Asian flavours.

Medium-Bodied Reds

More structure than a light red, but not the full weight of a big tannic wine. Earthy, spice-driven and food-flexible. These sit in the sweet spot for most meals: enough presence to handle grilled meats and heartier dishes, enough freshness to avoid overwhelming the plate. Regional pairings almost always work here.

Vaza Crianza, Tempranillo, Rioja: Pair with Spanish-style lamb cutlets and Patatas Bravas.  This works becasue the char and hebs on the lamb meet the wine's cherry and vanilla spice without competing. The smokey paprika in the bravas plays into the same note, and the silky tannins cut through the crispy potato. A proper Rioja table.

Full-Bodied Reds

High tannin, concentrated dark fruit, real weight and structure. These wines need fat and protein on the plate to show their best side. On their own they can feel grippy and heavy. Alongside a rich, fatty dish, the tannins soften and the wine opens up completely. This is exactly what happened with that Reserva in Rioja.

Château Bichon Cassignols Graves Rouge, Bordeaux: Pair with Entrecote with Sauce Bordelaise or slow-braised beef short ribs. The sauce is literally named after the region the wine comes from. The dark fruit and gravelly minerality stand up to the richness of the sauce, while the tannins cut through the butter and bone marrow instead of getting lost in them. One of the great regional pairing in French wine. 

Light and Aromatic Whites

High acidity, fresh and fragrant, lower in alcohol. These are the workhorses of food pairing: versatile enough to handle spiced dishes, delicate seafood, Asian cuisine and anything where the wine needs to complement without dominating. The acidity does the heavy lifting. Serve cold.

Brockenchack Mackenzie Williams Riesling, Eden Valley: Pair with Thai Green Curry.  The bright citrus acidity balances the spice and coconut cream while the floral aromatics soften the heat. Riesling's acidity is the contrasting element here, cutting through richness and keeping the palate fresh between mouthfuls.

Rich and Textured Whites

Oak ageing, full malolactic fermentation and lees contact give these whites a creamy, textured body. They match richness with richness: roasted proteins, butter-based sauces, creamy pasta, dishes with real weight. A lighter white would get lost here. This is the congruent pairing approach: matching creaminess with creaminess.

LS Merchants Buttery Barrels Chardonnay, Margaret River: Pair with Roast chicken and herb butter. The oak and lees texture mirror the richness of the butter sauce, while the acidity cuts through the fatand resets the palate.

Rosé

Dry Provence-style rosé is one of the most food-friendly wines at the table and one of the most underestimated. Its bright acidity, saline quality and light body make it a natural match for seafood, Mediterranean food and dishes where a white feels too light and a red feels too heavy. The salt in the food draws out the fruit in the wine. Serve cold, pour generously.

Château Barbanau L'Instant Rosé, Côtes de Provence: Grilled paprika and garlic herbs. The smoky paprika and garlic in the marinade echo the warm spice and saline edge of the wine, while the fine acidity cuts through the char on the prawns and resets the palate between bites. The fruit in the wine lifts the sweetness of the prawn meat without competing with the spice. 

Sparkling

Sparkling wine is the most underused food wine in most people's repertoire. The combination of acidity and bubbles cuts through salt, fat and richness better than almost any other style, which makes it a natural companion for fried food, cured meats, oysters and cheese. The bubbles act as a textural contrast, refreshing the palate in a way that a still wine cannot. Do not save it just for toasts.

See Saw Balance Prosecco, Orange: Pair with Ensalada de Pulpo and Oysters. The brininess of the octopus and the oysters mirror the mineral freshness of the wine, while the fine bubbles and bright acidity cut through the olive oil dressing and reset the palate between bites. Salt and seafood draw out the fruit in the prosecco and keep everything clean and lively.

Zero Alcohol

Zero alcohol wine starts life as a fully fermented wine. The alcohol is removed after fermentation, leaving the natural aromas, structure and flavour intact. The same pairing principles apply: match by style and weight, and let the wine's acidity and flavour do their job at the table. The tannin structure is lighter without alcohol in the reds, so avoid the very richest cuts, but for most occasions these wines work exactly as their conventional equivalents would.

• Light and fresh: Kolonne Null Rosé | Grilled fish, soft cheese, light salads and spiced dishes 
• Rich Whites: Tamburlaine Jack Squat Chardonnay | Roast chicken, creamy pasta, pan-seared fish 
• Reds: Tamburlaine Jack Squat Cabernet Sauvignon | Grilled lamb, beef, slow-cooked dishes, aged cheese
• Sparkling: Kolonne Null Sparkling Cuvée | Oysters, canapes, aperitivo, soft cheese 

The Short Version

Fat and protein soften tannins. Acidity cuts through richness. Salt draws out fruit. Match the weight of the wine to the weight of the dish. And lean into regional pairings when you are not sure where to start.

The rest is just practice. And it is very good practice.

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All wines from our current range, mapped to food. Add to this as you build your cellar.