Consider a Wine’s Acidity When Choosing a Food Pairing

While reading recommendations on wines, you might notice the words, “good acidity,” and there are several reasons for that.

Acidity gives a wine a bit of lift and provides brightness to one that might be categorized as either flat or flabby. It also helps balance out a wine’s residual sugar content if it might otherwise come across as tasting too sweet.

But probably first and foremost, wines that are higher in acidity make excellent food-pairing partners.

For example, pairing a high-acid wine with an acidic food, such as tomatoes, provides a nice complement by softening the overall astringency level.

Fatty meats such as salmon or duck or heavy (and delicious) sauces that are laden with cream or butter are also good options because the wine’s acidity cuts through the fat content. This allows you to taste both food and wine, and that should be your primary objective for matching any food with any wine to maximize your enjoyment of each.

Acidity isn’t the only element of taste one should consider when choosing a food/wine combination. Other factors include a wine’s fruit flavors, sweetness, and tannins, to name a few. But acidity is, without question, a big player in the culinary game, and it almost certainly should weigh in on whatever pairing decision you make.

High-acidity white wines include riesling, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, and pinot gris. A couple of suggestions from Washington: the Vin du Lac 2010 Grisant! Pinot Gris (pictured at left, about $17), a refreshing white from the Chelan winery with fresh pear aromas and tangy green melon and citrus flavors and a touch of tangerine on the finish; and the Dynasty Cellars 2012 DCR Riesling (about $16).

This newly released, food-friendly, first-ever white wine from the Bellingham winery displays viscous tropical fruit, pear and apple flavors and a crisp, bone-dry finish. Only 90 cases produced.

Red wines with higher acidity include pinot noir, barbera, and sangiovese. Two California pinots worth trying: The Folie à Deux Sonoma Coast 2011 Pinot Noir (about $20) and the Robert Mondavi Carneros 2010 Pinot Noir (about $27).

The Folie à Deux pinot represents the winery’s first effort at this varietal, and it’s a winner. Bright raspberry and red currant flavors lead off, with complex layers of cola, coffee, vanilla bean and a touch of earthiness on the finish.

The Mondavi pinot is a bit darker, with blackberry, plum, subtle spices and an almost velvety texture, if not for the slightly crisp finishing notes from the varietal’s signature acidity.