Pairing wine to your meal is a tale as old as time, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. You should always trust your taste buds, but most of us will find that a few tried and true flavor tips work effectively for our pallets. Complementary and congruent wine pairings are the best way to consider matching your wine, especially when first diving into the world of wines. Understanding how these two terms apply to the wine you choose will go a long way in ensuring your taste buds succumb to your meals.

Flavor Profiles

Many people use the terms flavor and taste interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two. Taste is just a larger part of flavor, and you want to focus on the flavor profile of your meal when deciding which option is right for you. Some aspects of the flavor profile include:

Salt- Salt has a huge impact on the influence of your wine on your meal, so pair salty foods with acidic and sparkling wines.
Fat- Most of the flavor profiles can be found in wine — except for fat. Fatty foods are key to the best complementary pairings.
Acidity- Acid makes your food and wine fresh, and a sauvignon blanc is a great option to combat a highly acidic salad.
Bitterness- Pairing a bitter food with a bitter wine is the biggest way to throw off your meal.
Sweetness- Sweetness is a great combination for congruent pairings. Sweet food also enhances the bitterness of your wine, which is another way to throw off your meal.
Spice- Spice is a tough one, but understanding how to balance them can help make some of the best congruent and complementary pairings.

What Are Complementary Pairings?

A complimentary profile means that your food and wine pairing should be exact opposites to each other. A great example would be pairing red wine with really fatty red meat like steak. The high fat of steak is balanced out by the tannins in red wine, leading to a balanced meal that reduces the negatives and enhances the positives of the pairings.

Think of complementary pairings as you’d think of complementary colors. Yellow and purple, orange and blue, and red and green are all colors opposite each other on the color wheel but make great pairings together by enhancing their best features.

What Are Congruent Pairings?

Congruent pairings share the same element to enhance the flavor. Sweet foods are paired with sweet wines, and the best options are pairing your sweet dessert with a sweeter wine to reduce the dessert’s effect on your palette. A beautiful creamy pasta can pair with a chardonnay or a light wine like cabernet sauvignon with softer meat like fish or chicken.

Pairing the Pairings

It’s all about creating a balanced effect between flavors, and if you can use your drinks and food to generate mirroring and contrasting pairings, you will end up with a beautifully tasting plate that you can always turn to for satisfaction. In addition, there are a few good tips that all good wine connoisseurs understand when pairing their wine and food:

Your wine should be more acidic than your food.
Your wine should be sweeter than your food.
Red or bitter wines and bold, fatty meats pair best.
White wines and lighter, softer meats pair best.
It’s always best to match the wine with the sauce and not the meat.

Get Complementary and Congruent Meals at Fireproof Restaurant

The best complementary and congruent meals are eaten each day at Fireproof Restaurant. Our expansive menu options for drinks and brunch offer plenty of opportunities for contrasting meals, or you can learn more about our private dining in Columbus for a more personalized experience. Visit us today and enjoy a beautiful night out testing out your favorite wine and food combinations.