Modern History of Wine and Food Matching

The concept of wine and food matching has gained a lot of momentum over the past few decades. Earlier, a good wine would generally come from traditional wine-making regions of Europe where it was almost always predominantly present at the dinner table. But thanks to the early European settlers who brought along their grapes & wines, new wine-making regions have come up across the world, ranging from California in the Americas to as far as Australia & New Zealand from down under, with some of them producing the finest wines available today.

Traditionally, local cuisines and wines were simply put together without much consideration. But in the recent past, food and wine are more commonly being paired up to enrich the overall dining pleasure. So much so, that this has taken the form of a ‘fine art’. From book-stores to the web world, connoisseurs and wine lovers have published a multitude of books elaborating the dos and don’ts of wine and food matching. Even restaurants have appointed sommeliers who often recommend to the guests about what goes with what and what doesn’t.

The Earlier Centuries: 1700s & 1800s

There are several factors that have played a hand in making the whole idea of wine & food matching so popular in recent times, particularly in the US. Though New York & Ohio were the first states to produce wine during the 17^th & 18^th century, the infamous gold rush in America saw almost half a million people migrate to California in the 1900s. From there, the wine-making business picked up pace and there has been no looking back ever since. The climate & soil there proved to be a fertile ground for producing some of the best varieties of wines, including the more popular European varieties.

Developments during 20^th Century

In the early to mid 20^th century, the popularity of wine grew further and by 1970s, an average American was gulping down over a gallon of wine per year. By this time, some interesting developments had started taking place in the field of wine & food matching. People from all over the world began experimenting with different wines and matching them with a variety of cuisines. Also, Neo-Prohibitionism in US in the 1980s led wine-makers to emphasize on wine-drinking as an element of dining rather than being just a form of booze meant for intoxication. This further integrated wine with main-stream dining and helped coin the term ‘wine & food matching’.

Modern Perspective

Today, wine experts and food lovers focus on delighting themselves and others by matching the weight of the wine with that of the food. The underlying focus of matching weights is to equally enhance the taste of both the food & the wine, while often highlighting the flavor of one more than the other. Different flavours and textures of food & wine can be paired up depending upon the type of equation sought; whether they would achieve harmony with each other or should either one of them be overwhelmed by the other.

A bold, white Bordeaux can very well complement a roasted lamb whereas a crisp Sauvignon Blanc with higher acidity can cut through a fish topped with creamy lemon sauce with that much intent.  In history, food & wine were paired up to resonate with each other to create a harmony. But in the modern perspective, the idea of experimentation has gained a lot of momentum, with wine-lovers experimenting with all sorts of wines & foods, making interesting discoveries en route.  In a nutshell, the same food can be complimented by a suitably matching wine on one occasion, while it can be completely devoured by a contrasting wine on the other.

Such is the popularity of wine & food matching that, the next time while you’re dining out, don’t be startled if someone comes over to the table and recites something like; "Sir, may I suggest you try our exquisite Chardonnay to go along with the shrimps?"