In the early 1990s a well-meaning consumer had the temerity to take some of Hawaii's new fusion chefs to task in the editorial page of Honolulu’s major daily newspaper. "Pacific Rim food is over-done," he opined, "and fusion cooking (is)… a ridiculous experiment gone awry... bizarre... complicated... frou frou!”
Although I personally worked with, and encouraged, pretty much the best of Hawaii's Asian and fusion chefs, I can't say that I found those comments particularly hurtful. For one thing, it was often true—new Island cooking could be bizarre, weird or excessive. Often too sweet, too sour or salty. Instead of being harmonious or exotic, the taste of kaffir lime in a dish could be annoying, coconut milk too milky, ginger too earthy or bitter. Then again, this was the kind of cooking that captured the fancy of Island visitors and locals alike—not to mention the lion's share of international press—and it would have been foolish for even modestly talented chefs and restaurateurs not to incorporate these expansive ideas.
The ironic thing, as most scholars of food cultures well know, is that there is virtually no cuisine in this world that does not represent some kind of fusion. The Italian cooking that we know today has evolved at an incredible pace since the 19th century, influenced by foodstuffs and techniques borrowed from all over the Mediterranean, and from culinary cultures as far flung as China and America. The various cuisines of India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and throughout Asia grew from cultures of people utilizing everything at their disposal, including all they could absorb from neighboring countries and cultures.
In American shopping malls, pit stops and blocks of food trucks, sushi and tacos, spring rolls and lobster rolls, pizza and poke, fajitas and falafel, bao and bratwurst, jerk and jambalaya and everything else imaginable are sold side by side with nary a blink; and there's a good reason why many of these foodstuffs bear little resemblance to foods of the same name in their original countries: It's because they have been thoroughly melted, or Americanized, into a larger pot. It is always a matter of time before foods begin to "fuse" into something different, to the point where the untraditional evolves into an old tradition… or so it always seems.
What I found particularly interesting about the occasional criticism of Hawaii’s evolving cuisine was the degree of response to similar developments in other parts of the world. When I first visited Australia in 1992, for instance, I expected to find classy wine and maybe some classically defined foods with an Anglo-Aussie bent. Instead, what I found was scores of well trained, disciplined chefs applying a host of East-West, North-South, cross-cultural approaches to an enviable range of meats, seafoods, and produce for a justifiably proud and appreciative populace.
And why not? For a country once known for little beyond overcooked lamb and a black yeast paste called vegemite, dishes such as Tasmanian rock oyster in ginger black bean beurre blanc, or wallaby roulade with native warrigal spinach chips, amount to exciting progressions in imagination and regional self-realization.
At the same time on the opposite side of the globe, Californian, Asian, and Mediterranean influences came together to form an even more peculiar culinary movement known as Modern British Cuisine. A Decanter magazine once quoted one of the 1990s ringleaders, Anthony Worral Thompson, to say: "Most Modern British chefs have trained at a serious French level and gained a good understanding of food, what works together and how it works, and when you've got that you can experiment." Basically, according to Thompson, this movement grew out of a "plundering" of ideas and ingredients—Thai spices, Japanese soy, Irish oysters, Italian Parmesan, French truffles, Old English puddings, Baltic herring, etc.—until it became only “a question of time before 'theirs' becomes 'ours.'" Call it progress, or gastronomic plagiarism—the important thing for Thompson was that it was “great to have an identity and restaurants we can be proud of.”
Sound familiar? In disparate places, a building upon different diverse traditions, bringing new levels of culinary self-respect and resulting commercial success.
So are the world's newly defined "regional" cooking styles half-baked or over-done? I'm not sure if either is possible. While perhaps not as eclectic as Hawaii, virtually the entire North American continent is, after all, a melting pot. Americans have never really needed to "plunder" other traditions⏤they live and breathe them as we speak. One of the more interesting cookbooks on our shelf is one on Southern Appalachian cooking called Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread & Scuppernong Wine that describes itself as "a celebration of foodlore handed down from Scotland, England, Ireland, Germany and the Cherokee Nation." If that's not typical fusion cooking, I don't know what is. Dramatic cultural crossings beyond previously known bounds have been the norm for such a long time, we do not so much celebrate it as simply live it.
From the wine perspective, the cultural and commercial ramifications associated with the latest and most visible culinary variations have resulted in two things:
A stronger need to expand our taste for globally sourced wines to match this growing culinary diversity.
Gravitation towards wines tailored towards new foods rather than just for power, finesse, regional or varietal definition, big scores, commercial branding or any other factors.
If you’ve looked at the wine lists in some of today’s hipper restaurants, you are already aware of the astounding range of wines now being aggressively merchandised alongside the usual Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays: Gamay from Oregon or British Columbia, Teroldego from Trentino or California, Riesling from New York or New Zealand, Spätburgunder from the Rheingau or Pfalz, Lemberger (a.k.a., Blaufränkisch) from Austria or Columbia Valley, Cabernet Franc from Lake County, Friuli, Chinon or Bourgueil, Malbec from Cahors or Mendoza, Albariño from Rías Baixas, Vinho Verde, California or Oregon, and Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsaut, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Vermentino, Piquepoul, Bourboulenc or Clairette blanche from everywhere from South Australia to South Africa, to California’s Lodi, Sierra Foothills, North and Central Coasts and throughout the Mediterranean pockets of Sardinia, Corsica and the vast regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence. And more—much more.
So why are restaurateurs subjecting consumers to such new fangled regions and grapes? It's easier to understand when you know why they’re needed: To match new fangled foods; particularly those entailing Asian/fusion ingredients and cooking techniques. These emerging culinary styles can be bewilderingly varied—utilizing Thai spices, Japanese seasonings, Chinese vegetables, Italian herbs, and French style sauce reductions, often in one dish! In these contexts, even the most unusual wines invariably become, well, something of a norm—appropriate out of pure, sensory necessity.
So here are some observations on these new complications in general, along with thoughts on how or why they work:
The Asian/Fusion vs. European palate
Wine, of course, is a product indigenous to European culture and gastronomy. Since wine is not natural or traditional in Asian settings, the combination may be problematic. But it is not impossible. What it takes is a little imagination to knit vinous and culinary strands to the point where it only makes sense, mostly because it tastes great (the only reason to do anything). It also takes special effort to understand the pitfalls as much as advantages. Nothing, though, will actually discourage everyday consumers from wanting to enjoy wines with Asian or Asian/Fusion foods. If it's there, people will eat it and drink it.
The major difference between dishes prepared with Asian/fusion thought and dishes prepared in traditional European styles is the fact that Asian/fusion chefs endeavor to touch all parts of the palate as equally and intensely as possible. A good introduction to how Asians approach cooking can be found in Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's beautifully illustrated book called Hot Sour Salty Sweet, a "Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia." According to Alford and Duguid:
The basic (Southeast Asian) palate is hot, sour, salty, sweet, and sometimes bitter. If you order a green papaya salad from a street vendor in Thailand, the last thing the vendor will do before serving the salad is to give you a small spoonful of the salad, asking for your opinion. If you'd like it hotter, more chiles will be added; if you want it saltier, more fish sauce; more sour, lime juice will be added; sweeter, more palm sugar... And while this balancing act takes place in an individual dish like a green papaya salad, it also shapes a meal, determining what dishes should be served alongside others…
To the Duguids’ list of sensations you can also add umami, significant in cooking styles all over the world. While the many strands of Asian foods do not make classic wine matches because of strong emphasis on multiple sensations, Asian cuisines are classic and traditional in their own right—just in different ways from European cuisines. These ways entail different ingredients, of course, but also differences in the exacting of balance and harmony in the cooking. It is not enough, for an Asian or fusion chef, to achieve intensity of sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, umami or hot spiciness. Striking a balance of those sensations is always most important.
Which is precisely the types of wines to which Asian/fusion style dishes respond most readily: Wines that emphasize a sense of balance of all sensations, as opposed to sheer intensity of any one sensation—be it body or tannin, sweetness or acidity, oakiness or even no oakiness.
This is why the classic "power" wines of the world—made from grapes such Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay—are lower percentage matches with Asian/Fusion foods. Not when their appeal is built upon strength of, say, alcohol (contributing to body or weight), tannin and/or oak at the expense of other qualities such as crisp acidity or restrained proportions of alcohol, tannin and/or oak.
Although strong oak qualities are associated with powerful wines, oak in itself is not detrimental to food matching because there are many barrel fermented or oak aged wines that are perfectly smooth, moderately scaled, crisply balanced, and therefore Asian/fusion food compatible. But when it comes to food flexibility, the most important qualities in a wine will always be harmony and balance—qualities more likely to be found in moderately (as opposed to aggressively) oaked wines.
The same thing for sweetness: Although in many camps, Rieslings with a balance of crisp acidity and perceptibly sweet fruitiness are thought to be ideal for foods with sweet, sour, hot and salty sensations, we have found that Rieslings that are bone dry yet still crisply balanced with fresh fruitiness can work just as well, and often better, with sweet, sour, hot, and salty foods. A lot of that is because excess consumption of residual sugar in both wines and dishes tends to be too much for the average palate to absorb without feeling tired or sated.
With or without oakiness, and with or without sweetness, the best wines for Asian/Fusion foods are those that are proportionate, and generally (but not always) on the lighter side in terms of weight or body.
Asian/Fusion spices
New Asian/fusion cooking is often tilted towards chile spices and other hot sensations resulting from use of peppers, curries, shichimi (Japanese "seven-spice"), wasabi, rayu (spicy sesame oil), sriracha (Vietnamese and Thai chili pastes), kung pao (Chinese chili sauce), and peppercorns. These are often combined with salty, sweet and sour ingredients such as soy sauce, miso, hoisin, lemon grass, pickled ginger, green papaya, coconut milk, oyster sauce, mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine) and ponzu (citrus vinegars), seaweeds, shrimp pastes (such as bagoong), fish sauces (patis and nuoc mam), as well as fresh fruits and/or palm sugar (a more aggressive palm sap derived sweetener) infused marinades and pronounced shellfish stock reductions.
Red Bordeaux (dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and white Burgundy (Chardonnay) types may present difficulties for dishes that balance spicy hot sensations with salty, sweet and sour ones. But the choices of wines that can assimilate these multiple sensations are plentiful: Beginning with whites carrying a balance of sugar and acidity (Rieslings from around the world; the Chenin blanc-based whites from France’s Loire River, California or South Africa; or the feathery, tropical Torrontés from Argentina), or whites that are dry yet fairly light, crisp and fruit scented (dry styles of Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Albariño, Verdejo, Verdelho, Vermentino, Grenache Blanc, Piquepoul, and Pinot Gris/Grigio).
There are probably even more reds that fulfill the need for light, fruit driven, soft tannin qualities (Pinot Noir, Lemberger, Cabernet Franc, Grenache/Garnacha, Carignan, Cinsaut, many Sangiovese based reds of Italy, and easier styles of Syrah) for spice driven foods; and the small number of pink wines with lightly acidic edges and mineral tones (both traditional rosés and vin gris of Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, or blends of numerous other black skinned grapes) are among the many choices.
The operative terms for spiced food contexts are lightness (moderated alcohol), tartness (favoring combinations of higher acid varieties grown grown in cooler climates, or picked early enough in warmer climates), and fruitiness (for both dry whites and lower tannin reds). But it is also possible to overemphasize the factors such as body, acidity, and even fruitiness. For instance, in hot-spiced food settings, Gewürztraminer and Muscat (a.k.a. Moscato)—grapes commonly lauded for their fruity “spice” components—can be disappointing in spicy hot food contexts because of their propensity towards bitter phenolic or hot tasting alcohol levels, especially when fermented dry. Yet the sweet scented, spicy fruitiness of even the biggest, thickest reds such as Australian Shiraz often works quite nicely with chili or wasabi laced dishes. In the latter case, when spice components in a high fat/protein meat dish are smartly balanced by sweet, salty and/or sour ingredients, a good sized, peppery Shiraz (or even Cabernet Sauvignons laced with Shiraz) often make a pleasing, and surprising, match.
By the same token, while you would expect higher acid, fruit scented dry whites made from Sauvignon blanc and Pinot gris to work easily with spicy dishes, they are often too severe in their acidity, or too neutral in their dryness, to make more than an “okay” match; lacking, say, the pizzaz of floral, tropical fruit qualities that an off-dry or dry Riesling, an Argentine Torrontés or even a simple Moscato might bring to a plate of spicy food.
The same thing with Merlot and even Beaujolais’ Gamay noir-based reds: Although fruity and low enough in tannin to make a theoretical match, the varietal characteristics of these grapes often lack the inherent spiciness or more savory (i.e., umami intense) depth that make other grapes—Pinot noir, Cabernet Franc, pungently green peppery Carménère, black peppery Grenache or Schioppettino, and even fairly high tannin Zinfandels, Syrahs and Petite Sirahs—an easier fit with aggressively spiced foods. Fusion food friendly reds are not defined by just ample fruitiness and soft tannin; some degree of spiciness in both wine and dish goes a long way towards establishing common sensory threads of similarity, hence sense of harmony, in spicy food contexts.
Asian/Fusion white fish and shellfish
Softer textured white fish and sweet/briny/meaty shellfish of all types set in Asian/Fusion contexts such as milder (sans excessive heat) spices, lush tropical fruit, coconut milk, soy sauce, aggressively Asian seasonings (including kaffir lime, cilantro, Chinese five-spice, mirin, fish sauces, star anise, and licorice basils), slightly bitter vegetables (varieties of mesclun, eggplant, Chinese mustards and cabbages, etc.), and even traditional Mediterranean elements (balsamics, oils, tomato, basil, etc.) tend to be diametrically opposed to all but the most crisp and subtle Chardonnay based whites. We have usually found far easier matches in, say, crisp-edged, moderately weighted dry whites such as Pinot Gris/Grigio, Spain’s Albariño and Verdejo, Portugal's Alvarinjo and Loureiro-based whites, Austria’s Grüner Veltliner, Italy’s Arneis, Cortese (the Gavi of Piemonte) and Grechetto, Southern France’s Picpoul de Pinet and Vermentino, the Loire River’s Muscadet or more minerally Chenin blanc-based whites, Argentina's Torrontés, and never surprisingly, the multiplicity of Sauvignon Blancs and Rieslings of the world.
To the extent that many fusion style preparations of fish are finished with oils and vinegars rather than butter or cream, even mildly acidic, more densely structured or fuller alcohol white varieties may work: Particularly authentic Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris from Alsace; Northern Italy’s Friulano; Switzerland’s Fendant; Assyrtiko from Greece; and from France, the U.S., Australia and South Africa, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Sémillon, and the great variety of blends thereof (Marsanne/Roussanne, Marsanne/Viognier, Chardonnay/Grechetto, Sémillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon/Chardonnay, et al.). One of the keys to these matches is moderate use (if not zero-use) of oak, which can be frivolous in the context of Asian influenced fish dishes; in which case, pronounced fruitiness and complexity of aroma/flavor (terroir, mineral, floral and spice nuances) can easily accomplish the task of assimilating widely varying Asian influenced food sensations.
Meaty red fish in Asian/Fusion contexts
The meaty, fleshy qualities of fish such as tuna (especially Hawaiian ‘ahi), salmon, and swordfish in Asian/fusion contexts usually make such foods more suitable to lighter, lower tannin reds than to almost any white. This has led to a significant presence of more types of varietal bottlings such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, and softer, restrained, more moderately oaked styles of Syrah and Zinfandel on our wine lists; extending out to less familiar yet unique, interesting red wines such as Loire River Cabernet Francs (Chinon, Bourgueil or Saumur-Champigny), Tempranillo (as in lighter Riojas) and Mencía from Spain, Dolcetto and Lagrein from Northern Italy, Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch from Austria, lusher, spicier styles of Grenache from Spain, Australia or California, the Southern Rhône (such as Gigondas and Vacqueyras), Corsica (Nielluccio/Sciacarello/Grenache), the occasional old-vine, own-rooted Carignan from South-West France, Spain or California, or typically kitchen spice scented Cinsaut from California of South Africa.
While not entirely present in every wine, the key components in most of these Asian influenced red-wine-with-fish matches are rounded tannins, moderate or perceptible acidity, and varying degrees of fruit/spice qualities. Imbued with one combination or another, red wines that enter the palate a little more softly tend to carry a much bigger stick in fleshier fusion fish contexts.
Asian/Fusion use of meats
The growing and more judicious use of less fatty cuts of beef, lamb, pork, poultry and game in Asian/fusion settings—often involving marinades, braising (toward caramelized sensations), and/or natural stock reductions infused with ingredients such as soy sauce, ginger, garlic, star anise, tamarind, scallion, palm sugar, lemon grass, cilantro, curry, coconut milk, tropical fruits, syrups, vinegars, and plum pastes—are particularly apropos with lower tannin reds with variations of sweet or floral fruit profiles. This would include softer versions of single varietals such as Gamay noir (re France’s Beaujolais), Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Carménère, Syrah or Shiraz, Zinfandel, Italy’s Schioppettino or Sangiovese based reds (not just in Chianti, but also Vino Nobile di Montepulicano, Carmignano and Rosso di Montalcino), and Tempranillo (Rioja, Ribera del Duero or Toro) as well as Garnacha (especially Montsant and rounder styles of Priorat) from Spain, or Cannonau (a.k.a., Grenache) from Sardinia.
This also creates lots of possibilities for a great variety of blends that portray a balance of rounded, juicy fruit qualities ("suggesting" sweetness without actual residual sugar) as well as exotic spice/pepper/herbal/smoky qualities, as opposed to qualities such as sheer power or dense structure. We are talking about more than just the classic blends of Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre (common in Southern France and American “Rhône Rangers”). Australia’s Cabernet/Shiraz, Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (alla Toscana, or Supertuscans), or Tempranillo/Garnacha bottlings of Ribera del Duero are now among the many imaginative, even if bewildering, combinations of grapes found in contemporary wines.
A sampling (there are many more!) of some of the finer, or funner, commercial brands of food-versatile red wine blends now to be found...
Pinot noir with Syrah and Zinfandel: Sokol Blosser Meditrina (Oregon/California)
Cabernet Franc and Merlot: Justin Paso Robles Justification and Sleight of Hand Walla Walla Valley Archimage
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese: Falesco Vitiano (Umbria, Italy)
Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Tempranillo: Epoch Estate Paso Robles Blend
Syrah, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah: Markus Wine Co. Zeitlos (Lodi, California)
Grenache and Mourvèdre with Cinsaut: Paix sur Terre Paso Robles Songs of Its Own
Carignan, Cinsaut and Cabernet Sauvignon: Chateau Musar (Lebanon)
Carignan, Cinsaut and Zinfandel: Sandlands or Marchelle (Lodi, California)
Carignan and Petite Sirah: Markus Wine Co. The Church Ancient Blocks (Lodi, California)
Ancellotta, Nero d'Avola and Zinfandel: LangeTwins Family (Lodi, California)
Petite Sirah (with co-fermented Viognier) and Syrah: Keplinger Amador County Sumō
Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot: Michael David Lodi Petite-Petit
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Petit Verdot: Duckhorn Napa Valley Paraduxx
Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah: Long Shadows Columbia Valley Saggi
Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc: Coup de Grâce Lodi Red
Zinfandel, Graciano, Syrah and Carignan: Linne Calodo Paso Robles Cherry Red
Nero d’Avola with Frappato: Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicily, Italy)
Auxerrois (Malbec) with Merlot: Château Pineraie (Cahors, France)
Auxerrois (Malbec) with Tannat and Merlot: Clos la Coutale (Cahors, France)
Niellucciu with Grenache: Yves Leccia Patrimonio Rouge (Corsica)
Niellucciu, Grenache, Sciacarellu and Syrah: Domaine Maestracci Corse Calvi Rouge (Corsica)
Niellucciu, Aleatico and Merlot: Domaine de Gioielli Cap Corse Rouge (Corsica)
Bovale Sardo (Graciano), Carignano and Cannonau (Grenache): Argiolas Korem (Sardinia)
Brachetto and Barbera: Tenuta La Pergola Vino Rosso Il Goccetto (Piedmont, Italy)
Teroldego and Lagrein: Mezzacorona Vigneti Cliffhanger Proprietary Red Blend (Trentino, Italy)
Monastrell, Syrah, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon: Bodegas Carchelo (Jumilla, Spain)
Mourvèdre, Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Cinsaut: Domaine d’Aupilhac Montpeyroux Rouge (Languedoc, France)
Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah: Abadia Retuerto Selección Especial (Ribera del Duero, Spain)
Cabernet Sauvignon with Gaglioppo: Librandi Gravello (Calabria, Italy)
Carménère with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon: Veramonte Primus (Valle Centrale, Chile)
Syrah with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot: L’Adventure Paso Robles Optimus
Syrah and Cabernet Franc: Fox Creek McLaren Vale JSM
Blaufränkisch, Merlot, Zweigelt, and Cabernet Sauvignon: Pichler Arachon Evolution (Austria)
Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barrroca and Touriga Franca: Quinta do Crasto (Portugal)
Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz: Quinta de Roriz Reserva and Jose Maria de Fonseca Domini (Portugal)
Garnacha with Cariñena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah: Clos Abella Porrera (Priorat, Spain)
Callet with Montenegro-Fongoneu and Syrah: Àn/2 Ànima Negra (Mallorca, Spain)
Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cinsaut: Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block (South Africa)
These and numerous other proprietary style blends from all around the world exist, of course, for their great commercial appeal; but their other, perhaps underrated, value is the way they also fit our rapidly expanding culinary needs. Huge boons to our restaurant wine programs.
The bottom line is that Asian influenced, fusion style chefs around the world are cooking up a storm. This style of cuisine is alive and kicking; becoming marks of sophistication to which consumers are responding accordingly. We may be just beginning to understand the specifics of the ideal wine matches; but the possibilities will probably remain as endless as the evolution of wines and foods, and as varied as our ever-changing definitions of wine quality and culinary appreciation.
SOME BASIC GUIDELINES TO MATCHING ASIAN/FUSION FOODS
When either cooking in Asian/fusion styles for many of these contemporary wines, or selecting wines for the endless variations of Asian/fusion dishes, it is important to keep a few useful guidelines in mind, beginning with a reiteration of the basic “Asian/fusion palate”:
Asian/fusion foods tend to utilize the entire palate of taste and tactile sensations (unlike Western foods).
Because harmony and balance of multiple sensations is essential to the quality of Asian/fusion food preparation, wines that emphasize harmony and balance rather than pure power or strength tend to have the highest percentage chance of matching these foods.
Fruit forward wines—whether completely dry or a little sweet, or whether white, red, pink or orange—have the highest percentage chance of matching foods with elevated hot, sour, salty, sweet, bitter and umami intense sensations.
Soft or lower alcohol/tannin/oak wines tend to “feel” smoother and thus also have a higher percentage chance of working in Asian/fusion contexts.
Although not necessary, sweetness in both food preparation and wines can offer a balancing contrast to saltiness, as well as hot spiced, sour, or high fat components in foods.
Fruity wines can suggest sweetness (through “sweet” aromas and flavors) without actual residual sugar content (i.e., fruity yet dry wines).
“Fruit driven” wines of any sort tend to match dishes with sweet components.
Spicy aroma/flavor components in wines respond positively to similar “spice” components in foods (i.e., use of chiles, varieties of peppercorn, chili powders and pastes) because of the natural human proclivity to perceive palate sensations in aromas and aromas on the palate.
Higher acid (“crisp”) wines respond positively to dishes with similar sensations (i.e., with use of mildly acidic vinegars, citrus fruits, sour greens, etc.).
Lower acid (“soft”) wines respond positively to dishes with similar sensations (i.e., use of butter, oils, and creams).
Barrel fermented and aged whites (i.e., typical Chardonnays) tend to have creamy or buttery textures, and thus respond positively to dishes with similar sensations (particularly use of butter and cream in sauces).
Strongly oaked (“smoky” or "toasty") wines, whether white or red, have their place with foods with smoky sensations (i.e., wood or charcoal grilled, roasted, smoked, or charred).
High tannin (“big” or “hard”) reds prefer high fat/protein foods, or some use of peppers, radishes or mustards to balance the bitter sensations of tannin.
Low tannin (“soft” or “round”) reds prefer lower food fats and proteins (especially “white” meats or dishes incorporating small portions of lean red meat).
Soft, elegant, complex and/or well-matured wines are ideal with high-umami foods (i.e., use of mushrooms, truffle, seaweeds, aged cheeses, vine ripe tomatoes, braises, natural stock reductions, etc.).
Unbalanced wines and foods (i.e., bad cooking and lousy wines) are unlikely to go with anything. That is to say, talent—talent of a winemaker, talent of a chef, and talent of a sommelier making choices of wines—as well as sheer quality will always matter.