Food and Wine Pairing : A Sensory Experience

116 Chapter 5 The Impact of Sweetness and Acidity Levels in Wine and Food

EXERCISE 5.3

SWEETNESS INTERACTIONS: TASTING WINES AND FOOD TOGETHER

This exercise incorporates the wine sam-
ples and food items from Exercises 5.1
and 5.2. You will taste each of the food
items with each wine sample and deter-
mine whether the food is less sweet than,
as sweet as, or sweeter than the wine
sample. You will complete one Food Item
and Wine Sweetness Comparisons sheet
for each food item (a total of four).
The basic rule for wine and food
pairing indicates that the food sweetness
level should be less than or equal to the
sweetness level of the wine to be per-
ceived as a match. As you are tasting,
you will want to think about this theoret-

ical relationship and whether or not you

believe it applies. Many people have in-

dividual preferences in terms of food fla-

vor profiles and wine type preferences

that may not accord exactly with the ba-

sic idea of sweetness matching. In a re-

cent research project I performed, I found

that while a sweetness match was a

strong indicator of overall perceived

match for wine and cheese pairing, sig-

nificant differences occurred in perceived

wine and cheese matches based on indi-

vidual preferences for red wine or white

wine, regardless of other theorized match

relationships.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this exercise is to assess

sweetness levels of wine and food to-

gether and to evaluate the interaction of

equal or different levels of sweetness of

wine or food when tasted together.

Mise en Place: Things to Do Be-

fore the ExercisePrior to evaluation,

make sure the wines are still at the ap-

propriate tasting temperature and that

you have a sufficient amount of each

food item to taste a bite or two with each

wine sample.

MATERIALSNEEDED

Table 5.7 Materials for Exercise 5.3

Prepackaged food items from Exercise 5.2 Napkins

Wines from Exercise 5.1 Drinking water for each student

1 copy Food and Wine Sensory Anchor Reference sheet per student Glasses for water

Completed Wine and Food sweetness evaluation sheets 6 wineglasses on paper placemats

4 copies Food Item and Wine Sweetness Comparisons sheets per

student

Paper plates or bowls to serve food

Utensils for food items