How to Get the Best Experience Out of Pairing Wine and Food

Discovering that perfect flavor combination is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and for many sommeliers, it’s both a way of life and an integral part of their profession. Katja Scharnagl is Chief Sommelier at the Michelin 3-star seafood restaurant Le Bernardin in Manhattan. In her role, Scharnagl is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the wine department, which includes taking inventory, placing orders, assisting with events, working on the floor to handle guests’ needs, and finding the best possible pairings for Chef Eric Ripert’s cuisine.

“For the pairings at the restaurant, I look at the ingredients, the preparation, and where the dish is in the menu—we want to have a progression of wines: Is it for an appetizer or the main course? For example, if you start with a soup and pair something rich yet acidic like Madeira with it, where do you go from there? What is the next step? Are you going back to white wine or red wine? So the flow of the meal impacts your pairings as well,” she explains.

“We taste a wide range of wines with a dish and narrow it down to the top three. After that, we confirm with vendors if and how much we can get. Then the wine goes on the menu.”

While we’re doing a lot of legwork for you at PairCraft by creating a database of wines to pair with our dishes, there are several things to keep in mind on your end to ensure the best food and wine pairing experience. Scharnagl shared a few insights on how to do it.

Divide and conquer
First ask yourself: What are the main components in the dish? What’s driving it?, says Scharnagl. “For example, if you have a piece of grilled meat that was marinated in garlic, herbs, and served with compound butter, you need to pick a wine that goes well with the garlic, butter, and herbs and the fact that it has lots of charcoal flavor because it’s not so much about the meat itself,” she explains. For reds, Scharnagl suggests wines from the Rhône or Languedoc, like a Pic Saint Loup or a Grange de Peres. For whites, one could choose Furmint from Hungary because of the great acidity, herbaceous touch to it, and richness. “Or, if you have a piece of fish that is poached and served with just a bit of butter sauce, than you go for the fish as the main focus.” In that case, Scharnagl leans towards a White Burgundy like a Chablis Grand Cru or a Meursault because you want richness as well as acidity. If a dish is made up of several parts—protein, vegetable, sauce, for instance—always taste each part of the dish separately, she recommends, then taste them all together because it’s important to find out which components are driving the overall flavor in the dish.

Seek adventure, but keep the classics in mind, too
“There are classic pairings out there”—like Muscadet and oysters, or Sauternes and foie gras—”and that’s a good way to start, but what I learned the most through my experience with PairCraft was that nothing is set in stone, and you have to try out a lot of wines to find the ‘perfect’ pairing,” says Scharnagl. “It depends on how the dish is prepared, and it can vary from one cook to another. One may use more salt or spice than the other, so the dish tastes different.” As you explore a new recipe yourself, tweaking it to your liking, and then pair your wines. “It can be so much fun to taste different wines and explore. You will be surprised by what you discover.”

Recognize what’s working—and embrace it
“When everything is in sync, the wine lifts the dish and the other way around,” concludes Scharnagl. “It’s like a good marriage. You may have a wine with a dish that you wouldn’t expect, and you learn something new.” One example that she cites is halibut with a red wine sauce paired with Bedrock Zinfandel 2018. “The sauce is the key element here, and you might think a white wine would work—or for the red wine, a Pinot Noir—but the truth is that you need a big and bold red wine with spice and acidity to cut through the flavors of the sauce.”

Subscribe to PairCraft, and see Katja’s pairing skills in action as she matches a garlicky, fire-cooked lobster to the best wines for the dish.