Master Food Pairing

It’s easier than you think and will greatly increase your enjoyment of wine. Select a food category from the menu below to see a quick guide on how to best pair it with wine. Our Pocket Wine app also contains hundreds of pairings for individual dishes across all food categories.

• Cheese – Smoked
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Aromatic whites or Powerful reds ALSO CONSIDER: Rich whites & Smooth reds A smoked cheese is any type of cheese that has been subjected to a smoke-curing process. This gives the cheese a particular smoky flavor, which can vary in intensity… Read more: Cheese – Smoked
• Cheese – Blue
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Sweet (Dessert) & Fortified wines ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic & Rich whites or Smooth & Powerful reds, as well as Sparkling wines Blue cheese is a unique category of mould-ripened cheeses that have distinctive blue or blue-green veining produced by the Penicillium mould.… Read more: Cheese – Blue
• Cheese – Hard
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Smooth & Powerful reds ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic, Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity reds, as well as Sparkling wines, Fortified wines (Port and Sherry), beer, cider and stout. What distinguishes Hard cheeses from Semi-Hard is that they have a lower moisture… Read more: Cheese – Hard
• Cheese – Semi-Hard
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Smooth & Powerful reds ALSO CONSIDER: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity reds, as well as beer, cider and stout. Semi-Hard cheeses, as their description suggests, have lower moisture content than Fresh, Bloom Rind and Washed Rind cheeses. They are generally… Read more: Cheese – Semi-Hard
• Cheese – Washed Rind
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Aromatic & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds ALSO CONSIDER: Powerful reds, as well as beer, cider and stout Washed Rind cheeses are surface ripened by washing the cheese during the ripening phase with a brine solution containing a special… Read more: Cheese – Washed Rind
• Cheese – Bloomy Rind
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Aromatic & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds ALSO CONSIDER: Smooth & Powerful reds Bloomy Rind cheeses are ripened by spraying the outside of the cheese with a mould (penicillium candidum), which gives them an edible “bloomy” rind that is… Read more: Cheese – Bloomy Rind
• Cheese – Fresh
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Aromatic & Crisp whites or Fruity reds ALSO CONSIDER: Rich whites These are the simplest form of cheese, as they are not aged and therefore have a short shelf life. They are usually soft, mild and creamy with high moisture content… Read more: Cheese – Fresh
• Salads
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Aromatic & Crisp whites or Fruity reds ALSO CONSIDER: Rich whites & Smooth reds By their nature salads are light, with delicate and subtle flavors. They are rarely weighty, and therefore should generally be paired with lighter bodied wines. The main… Read more: Salads
• Vegetables
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic whites & Powerful reds Vegetables, and vegetarian foods in general, are very versatile with wine. As with other food types the same principles apply – match the weight and… Read more: Vegetables
• Ethnic
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Aromatic & Crisp whites or Fruity reds with good acidity ALSO CONSIDER: Rich whites and Smooth or Powerful reds Ethnic foods are a broad category and one of the greatest challenges they present, in relation to wine pairing, is how to… Read more: Ethnic
• Pizza
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds. ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic whites & Powerful reds. Pizza can be just perfect for many meal occasions, but the accompanying wine should never be too serious. The style of pizza and the main… Read more: Pizza
• Pasta
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds. ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic whites & Powerful reds. Pasta dishes cover a multitude, simply because the pasta plays the role of a carrier for the main ingredient. As with other foods, the weight… Read more: Pasta
• Seafood – Shellfish
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp whites ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic & Rich whites with good acidity The guidelines for matching shellfish with wine are very similar to those of fish. They can be delicate or highly flavored and light in texture, or quite substantial. As with… Read more: Seafood – Shellfish
• Seafood – Fish
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp whites.  ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic & Rich whites with good acidity and, by exception, Fruity reds. Fish are generally light in texture and flavor, and are therefore best paired with white wine. The lighter the flavor and softer the texture of… Read more: Seafood – Fish
• Meat – Game
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Rich whites & Smooth or Powerful reds with good acidity. ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic and Crisp whites. Game meats (game birds, venison, wild boar) are rich and robust in flavor and can be quite earthy. They require full bodied and richly flavoured… Read more: Meat – Game
• Meat – Veal
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds. ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic whites & Powerful reds. Veal is similar to Pork, in that it occupies the middle ground between red meat and white meat and can pair well with either red… Read more: Meat – Veal
• Meat – Pork
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds. ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic whites & Powerful reds. Pork occupies the middle ground between red meat and white meat and can therefore pair well with either red or white wine. How it is… Read more: Meat – Pork
• Meat – Lamb
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Smooth & Powerful reds ALSO CONSIDER: Fruity reds (light dishes) and, by exception, Aromatic whites. Lamb is very wine-friendly and is a great match for classic reds. Roasted lamb, in all its guises, is ideal with Smooth and Powerful style reds, especially those… Read more: Meat – Lamb
• Meat – Poultry
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Crisp & Rich whites or Fruity & Smooth reds ALSO CONSIDER: Aromatic whites & Powerful reds. White meats (e.g. chicken, duck, goose and turkey) are lower in both protein and fat content than red meat, and are therefore more versatile with… Read more: Meat – Poultry
• Meat – Beef
  PAIRS BEST WITH: Smooth & Powerful reds ALSO CONSIDER: Fruity reds (light dishes) High protein foods such as red meat are best matched with red wine. This is because the tannin in red wine is attracted to, and binds with, the protein… Read more: Meat – Beef