Wine tasting and food pairing

In a recent survey on alcohol consumption, it has been disclosed that people prefer to drink wine more than beer. This is because wine can be selected depending upon once taste. Wine taste can be evaluated by sensory examination. There are professional wine tasters called as sommeliers. Sommeliers are trained and knowledgeable professionals. They are specialist in wine tasting and wine food pairing for all type of wines. There are five basic types of wines. They are Red wine, White wine, Rose wine (Blush wine), Fortified wine (Dessert wine) and Sparkling wine.
The wine can be evaluated on three simple aspects. They are appearance, aroma, taste, and reaction. By appearance, one can classify the wine types. Red wines are maroon, purple, ruby, garnet, red, brick or even brownish. White wine is clear, pale yellow, straw-like, light green, golden. One can predict the sweetness by the amount of sugar in the wine after fermentation. Dry wines have small amount of sugar content in them.
The wine pairing focuses on three basic things. They are flavor, acidity, sweetness and alcohol content. The flavors are obtained from the grape itself, the climate where the grapes are grown and the process of wine making. There are many wine flavors, red wines have flavors like berry, cherry, plum or peach fruits, and white wines are commonly in apple, citrus or pear flavor. The sweet wines like dessert wines can be combined with desserts but the dessert should not be sweeter than the wine. For acidic foods, it is recommended to have wines, which are equally acidic. Depending upon the alcohol content wines are classified into lighter and heavier. Lighter wines can be paired with light dishes and heavier can be paired with heavy meals. Experts recommended a rule of thumb that “Simple wines with complex foods and complex wines with simple foods."
Red wines are stronger and it is not recommended to serve with lighter course of meals. Red wines are perfectly matched with red meats, cheeses, chocolate, and pastas with red sauces. Lighter flavored red wines are paired with pork or poultry dishes.
White wines are paired with lighter dishes like mild cheese, chicken, seafood, pork .Some types of white wines perfectly blends with chocolate and strong cheeses.
Sparkling wines and champagne tends to pair with appetizers and spicy Asian cuisine. Mexican food nuts chips are pairs with champagne due to the salty nature of it.
Selecting the right wine is not much difficult. Nowadays there are many wine schools and wine clubs were established. Courses were started to increase wine tasting skills and pairing techniques. A sommelier has to remember all the details of a wine type during wine tasting. Anyone can become a good wine taster if he has a good knowledge in all wines types. Hope now you got a clear view about the wine tasting and pairing with foods. Now-a-days there are many online wine sites that give all the necessary information about the wines, wine tasting, wine pairing, etc. With the entire necessary information one should not forget that wine is good for health only if it has been taken moderately.