A Profiling Approach to Match Level Assessment 253
2.Beginning at the left end of each scale (components, textures, and flavors), shade
in the space on the scale up to your marked ranking of the food item and wine
for each element on the scale.
3.Circle the food element descriptions on the right-hand side of the scale that are
at or beyond the middle point of the scale. These are likely to be the key ele-
ments that will drive wine pairing decisions. Evaluate the likely impact of these
food elements based on their magnitude and likely reactions with wine elements.
Is there one key element? More than one?
4.Circle the wine element descriptions on the right-hand side of the scale that are
at or beyond the middle point of the scale. These are likely to be the key ele-
ments that will drive food matching decisions.
5.Look at the profiles and decide whether this is likely to be a good food-and-
wine match or not. (Additional guidance on the use of these profiles is provided
in the upcoming sections.)
6.Taste the wine and food item together. Based on this mixed tasting, rank the
level of perceived match using the 0–10 scale at the bottom of the page. The
level of match can range from no match to a synergistic match. Indicate whether
this match is based on similar or contrasting characteristics of components, tex-
ture, or flavors by placing an X in the appropriate box.This evaluation system is designed so that you can keep the individual evaluations of
food dishes with the recipes for future reference and the individual wine evaluations with
the wine menu for future pairing selections and recommendations. The completed third
page combining both food-and-wine evaluations can be saved for future reference. If a poor
match was achieved with the wine and food item, additional wines can be evaluated or recipe
adjustments can be made to create a better fit with a desired wine.
WINE AND FOOD MATCH DECISION TREE
Chapters 5 through 10 present twelve rules that impact the level of perceived match
when wine and food are tasted together. These relationships are incorporated into the Wine
and Food Pairing Decision Tree (Figure 11.3). This decision tree allows you to quickly walk
through an assessment of the anticipated level of match based on the profiles created for the
wine and food in steps 1 and 2 of the wine and food pairing instrument.
The three main categories of wine and food elements—components, texture, and fla-
vor—are at the top of the decision tree. The level of match is at the bottom of the decision
tree. In between, there are a series of decisions based on the twelve decision rules presented
in Chapters 5 through 10. These decision rules provide likely assessments of match level
when taken in an additive fashion. ‘‘Additive fashion’’ means that the relationships in the
decision tree are hierarchical in nature (components to texture to flavors), and as more and
more of these relationships indicate a match, the overall perception of match increases.
A PROFILING APPROACH TO MATCH
LEVEL ASSESSMENT
How can wine and food profiles based on the Wine and Food Pairing Instrument and
decisions based on the Wine and Food Pairing Decision Tree allow you to predict levels of