Tim Hanni MW
Director of Applied Psycho-Sensory Studies, Copia
CEO, Napa Seasoning Company
OK, let’s get this party started! I thought it would be fun to throw out a couple my passionate convictions on wine and food matching. My position is that virtually every aspect of wine and food matching as it is practiced today consists primarily of illusions and superstitions with virtually no basis in reality.
The content we are teaching in wine and culinary schools has serious distortions of history and false assumptions. The cost of this misinformation is it continues to keep the subject of wine, and what to do when serving wine with food, a daunting and intimidating subject to millions. This blog is a forum for discussing this position and I invite your comments and tirades!
For the sake of this conversation it is important that you understand how I am defining conventional wisdom:
1. Conventional: “conforming or adhering to accepted standards, as of conduct or taste.”
2. Wisdom: “the ability to discern what is true, right or lasting: insight.”
The conventional wisdoms that I am referring to cover the gamut of matching weight of the wine with the weight of the food, pairing by contrast or similarity, supposed traditional or regional affinities ad nauseum. Even the supposed basic rules of red wine with red meat and white wine with fish.
And here are some definitions for the word superstition:
su·per·sti·tion
1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
2. a system or collection of such beliefs.
3. a custom or act based on such a belief.
4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, esp. in connection with religion.
5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.
There are three things everyone should know to enhance their own enjoyment of wine and food as well as the enjoyment for those they share the table with. For anyone professionally involved in wine, the culinary arts or the hospitality industry this knowledge should be mandatory.
1. Wine and food pairing based on regional and traditional concepts are in dire need of revision to separate fact vs. fiction.
2. Every human being is biologically different and we may experience flavor sensations very differently.
3. Personal life experiences that shape our preferences and behaviors and are different for every individual.
What is needed for the wine community is a better foundation of understanding that will allow the practice of the art of wine and food pairing and provides better structures and communications so that everyone can have consistently pleasurable experiences if they so desire. This means it is time to challenge the status quo and radically revise what the wine industry often holds as precious truths.
Seriously, what are the ‘truths’ anyways? You can’t help but notice how the volume of the arguments on all sorts of wine-related topics has increased over the past few years? There are articles and now even movies with public attacks, condemnations and slander over everything from rating systems, wine judging, screw caps, terroir and corporate consolidation to wine and food matching, wine quality in general and beyond. Just the mention of the word Merlot in certain crowds bears this out. This is not necessarily anything new. It just seems modern communication combined with growing conflicts over traditions, cultural and oenological values has really pushed things over the edge. Well, I am pushing back.
Here is what is true, as best as I can ascertain, about wine and food until around the end of World War II. The wines consumed in the famous wine regions of France, Italy and elsewhere often bore little resemblance to anything that might be commonly found today. If an area produced famous wines those wines were exported and not consumed by the locals with the local food. In fact the locals were probably drinking something from outside their own region. The wine that was on the table one day was the same wine that was on the table the next.
There was a social stratum of very rich and important people who put on the types of meals, accompanied by great wines, this being well documented in many writings and the preservation of extraordinary menus, but the service of wine was more by appropriateness of class distinction and less the “matching” of wine and food. The method of determining the procession of wines was more by intensity of aroma and not today’s catchall of heavy or light body.
When wine was part of the culture in traditional wine regions and beyond it was rarely bottled until very recently. The character of the wine was light, low in alcohol and over the course of the year it changed from relatively fresh and fruity to increasingly austere, acetic and, by today’s standards, downright rancid. It was perfectly acceptable to throw in a sugar cube if it was too sour, add some water if it was too strong, and the only rating it received was the alcohol level which it attained that often determined the value. Oh yes. And sweet wine was prized and valued. In France. In Italy. As a matter of fact, as wine has become predominately dry in these countries over the past 50 years wine consumption in both of these countries has plummeted nearly 50%. Lots of factors at play but I feel strongly this ‘drying out’ of wines played, and this continues to contribute to the decline of wine consumption in Europe and suppress consumption here in the US and around the world.
There is on major area of modern research that I have become passionately curious about over the years. It is known as the psycho-sensory phenomenon. This is a study of how the human brain processes and interprets sensory information including the experiences of wine and wine with food. Our personal life experiences, combined with our radically different sensory sensitivities, means that there will always be radically different points of view about wine, food and anything else you might think of.
Also at play are often radical differences in sensory discrimination from one individual to the next. This is our genetically determined individual sensitivities to the range and intensity of sensory stimulus that we can perceive. Sensory discrimination can vary radically from one individual to the next.
On the biological sensitivity front everyone’s sensory recognition thresholds (the point where you discern that a taste, smell, feeling, sound or vision exists). For example, the intensity of a taste sensations depends on the number of taste buds you have, their type and other factors. The number of taste buds you have will also shape your personal preferences by creating boundaries for the acceptable range of sensory input you can tolerate. Early in life these recognition thresholds and tolerances are the basis for instinctive attraction or aversion reactions that we have to the foods and beverages we consume.
Another really cool way that your mind works with your senses is by recalling memories you have tucked away in some part of your brain. A certain smell or, even better yet a combination of sensations, hits your brain and it’s like déjà vu all over again! You can be flooded with strong emotion and transported back in time. If thjis evokes a good memory the association with the sensations will be positive. If it evokes a bad memory the association will be negative.
The point is that we all form our opinions from our personal experiences and those experiences are vastly different. The formation of values has much to do with our family, peers, society and culture. There are also intriguing dynamics when people operate in close groups, such as wine tasting circles or the cultures in which you were raised, and have shared experiences developing their preferences and values collectively. Over time we will create a huge bank of memories associated with wonderful experiences and often an equal amount associated with experiences you would just as soon forget.
Consumers are often urged to ‘trust your palate.’ We now have new understanding to take that cliché to an actionable level and help those who enjoy wine and food understand why they like what they like, encourage them to discover new wine and food combination but keep things in a range of sensations they will enjoy. It is time to stop thinking that a wine that is completely repulsive to someone will magically transform because one individual says so or it is the conventional wisdom plucked from a fictional past.
After exhaustive research into the sciences and history of wine and food it all comes back to something simple. Drink what you like. Really, and this time with feeling. And try the basic elements fo flavor balancing. Here is the short course:
1. Salt and acidity dominating in a dish will make the wine you drink with the dish taste more mild.
2. Sweetness and umami dominating the food will make the wine you drink with the dish taste more bitter, astringent and acidic.
3. Impeccably balanced food in terms of sweet, umami, salty and sour tastes is really great with wine or without if that is your choice.
Get a glass of strong red wine, a sweet grape, a salt shaker and a lemon wedge and see for yourself. Eat the grape and try the wine. Ouch – really strong, bitter and tannic. Then put a little salt and lemon juice on you hand, lick it off and try the wine again. Smooth and mild. Not too surprisingly this has been dubbed as “Tim’s Tequila trick.”
And by the way, if you think this is ridiculous go look up a recipe for sauce Bordelais, bistecca alla Fiorentina or Maitre d’Hotel butter. The salt and acidity, not the protein and fat, will make your wine taste smooth and mellow. And the rest is all in your head.
If you are looking for a way to consistently get the most enjoyment out of every meal then Flavor Balancing may just be the solution you have been looking for. Flavor balancing principles are endorsed and put into practice by great chefs all over the world and understanding the simple principles opens up a whole new realm of wine and food adventures.
Flavor Balancing is the practice of ensuring the primary tastes in food (sweet, sour, salty and umami) are balanced in optimal proportions.
- Sweetness in your food will make wine taste thin and harsh (like brushing your teeth and drinking orange juice).
- Umami taste (mushrooms, meat, tomatoes, soy, etc.) will have a similar effect making the wine more bitter, acidic and astringent.
- Salt suppresses bitterness and is essential to balance the effect of umami on the wine.
- Acidity, in the form of lemon (NOT Meyer lemon), lime, wine reductions or vinegar will amplify the overall flavor of your food and help offset sweetness and umami.
Once Flavor Balance is achieved two things happen. First, you will achieve the optimum flavor in your food. Seriously. Second, the wine you want to serve will be balanced and delicious. It is almost unbelievable the solution to consistently great tasting wine and food could be so simple, but it is.
To learn more about Flavor Balancing you can check out the Copia calendar for one of my seminars. I invite you to join us in exploring this opportunity to promote “dink the wines you really love with the food you want to eat.” This time, with feeling!
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