Pairing Principle #1: Sauce First, Protein Second

Hi Wine Friends,

Today, we dive into the first of my six pairing principles. Each week I’ll discuss one in detail and give you examples of how you can apply it in your own life. But first: we had a slight mishap while sending out last week’s newsletter… the mobile version hid about half the content! If you opened it on your phone and want to read the full story (on using perspective in pairing as a place to start), you can find it here on our blog.

And with that, let’s jump into Pairing Principle #1:  Pair to the Sauce First and the Protein Second. This principle challenges the traditional rules that often pigeonhole wine pairing based solely on the protein component of a dish…. Think that you always have to serve white wine with fish? Red wine with meat? Think again. 

If you remember back to last week’s discussion on perspective, and determining what jumps out as ‘brightest’ in a dish, this is almost always the sauce. It's not about disregarding the protein altogether but, rather, understanding that the sauce often takes center stage in terms of flavor. 

Take a steak for instance… you could serve a steak with chimichurri or a steak with gorgonzola sauce or a carne asada or a smoked tri-tip… all are essentially the same protein but all require very different wine pairings.

Think of it this way: while the protein provides texture and weight, it's the sauce that delivers the punch of flavor. So you want to pair to it first and then, once you have those flavors matched correctly, consider the weight. Here are two great examples of pairing to the sauce first:

🍝 Red Sauces

Other great expressions of Sangiovese are Brunello di Montalcino (darker, brooding, more structured) or Vino Nobile de Montepulciano (purple-fruited, plush and intoxicatingly spicy).

This is where you’d start to consider the protein of the dish to find the absolute perfect option. Maybe you’ve determined that, since you're serving  red sauce, you’d like to use Sangiovese. But a light Chianti Classico would be better with Spaghetti Marina while a bold and structured Brunello would be better with steak Parmigiana, and the spice note in Vino Nobile would be better with Puttanesca pasta.

Other great wines to pair with red sauce are: Nebbiolo (the grape of Barolo and Barbaresco), Barbera (friendly on the palate and the bank account) and Primativo (the Southern Italian clone of Zinfandel).

🧈 Cream Sauces

When pairing wine to creamy sauces, opt for full-bodied white wines with a creamy texture. This might seem obvious for dishes like chicken alfredo, linguini with clams or halibut beurre blanc, where the protein is something we already acknlowledge as an ‘appropriate’ pairing with white wine. But what happens when it’s pork chops in dijon cream or even beef stroganoff? It may sound sacrilegious to pair white wine with meat, but I still think a creamy white is the best pairing!

Chardonnay is your best friend here, especially a Chardonnay that has gone through malo-lactic fermentation (where the tart, appley malic acid is converted into creamy lactic acid) and that has seen a little bit of oak aging to add weight and texture. If you’re someone who shies away from Chardonnay, I challenge you to try one paired with a creamy dish. You might find it a whole different experience!

Other great options are: Aligote (the other white grape of Burgundy), White Rhone blends (of Roussanne, Marssanne and Viognier) and Alsation Pinot Gris (heavier, smokier and much richer than Italian Pinot Grigio).

Other Classic Sauce Pairings

Tomato-based red sauces (marinara, bolognese, puttanesca etc): high acid red wines (See above)

Creamy white sauces (alfredo, beurre blanc, fondue, butter + white wine etc): creamy white wines (see above)

Green sauces (pesto, mojo verde, chimichurri etc): wines green aromas, such as Grüner Veltliner, cold climate Sauvignon Blanc, Vermentino, Albariño or Chablis; or red wines with juicy, floral fruit notes and a fresh herbal character, such as cool climate Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Grenache or whole cluster Pinot Noir.

Spicy, Aromatic Sauces (Thai curries, Piri Piri, Aguachile, Nuoc Chom etc): high-acid, aromatic whites, such as Riesling, Chenin Blanc or Torrontes. And don’t be afraid of off-dry (slightly sweet) options, as they balance out the heat!

Red Wine Reduction Sauces (Bordelaise, Bourguignon etc): if you’re cooking with wine, the perfect pairing is to use the wine that you’re cooking with! If you reduced a Pinot Noir for a Bourguignon sauce, drink a Burgundy. If it’s a Bordelaise, drink Bordeaux! And the same goes for white, if you steamed the clams in Chardonnay, drink Chardonnay. If you used Muscadet, then go with that.

For those of you looking to truly take your pairing skills to the next level, I’m hosting a live food and wine pairing masterclass on Saturday, May 18th at 2pm. It will be held virtually on zoom, and is open to any Seven Day Sommelier students. You don’t have to have completed the course in order to take the masterclass, but you do need to be enrolled as a student. And if you already completed the course, this is a great opportunity to review and deepen your pairing prowess!

I’ll be sending out the link to all students the week before, so make sure you enroll in Seven Day Sommelier to join the party next month!

See you back next week to talk about Pairing Principle #2: All About the Body.

Cheers,

Kelsey