Red Wine Pairing With Food is a Great Combination for Winter

By Keith Watt, Morning Bay Vineyard

Red Wines with food is for Winter!

Red wine paired with your favorite meats is a great way to enjoy your winter season. These days we find ourselves ducking more into the cellar and less into the refrigerator. As the days get shorter and the evenings longer we draw more corks from bottles of red than white. Our diet is changing from the light white meats of summer to roasts and stews and dishes that favour red meat. And the hottest summer days have past, so we crave warming drinks, and the higher alcohol and face-reddening tannins of red wine ward off fall's chill.

So many people today call themselves "red wine drinkers" or "white wine drinkers," but I wonder why we need to limit ourselves to one colour or another. If we want wine to be part of our lives, then we choose the wine that's right for the occasion, rather than being tied to one colour or another. As such there's nothing that shouts "RED WINE" like a steak straight off the barbecue or a roast beef glistening from the oven.

And it's not just because the rich flavours of red wine go so well with the rich red flavours of red meat. It's also because of those face-reddening tannins. Tannins are present in most vegetative substances in various quantities. In tea they give that dusty astringency that happens when, too impatient to wait for the tea to steep, you press the teabag against the side of the pot. Yuck! But in red wine, tannins are actually a sign of a well-made, age-worthy wine.

Tannins are a preservative. They were actually called tannins originally because the tannins from oak trees were used in the tanning, or preservation, of animal hides. As such they protect red wines while they age and slowly soften and lose their mouth-puckering dryness, leaving the beautiful smoothness of a well-aged wine.

However tannins also break down animal proteins, thus their use in tanning, for softening, animal hides. Tannins also break down the proteins in red meat, softening the texture and revealing the flavours of the meat. So pairing red wine and red meat is more than simply colour co-ordination.

So how do tannins get into red wine and not white? It has mostly to do with how the wines are made. With white wines, the juice is pressed off the skins shortly after the grapes are harvested. But because the juice of red wine is actually NOT red, it is left in contact with the skins for much longer--sometimes up to three weeks--to allow the colour from the skins to change the juice colour from pink to red. In the winery we keep the reds, complete with skins, some stems and seeds, in big vats while they ferment. During fermentation, carbon dioxide from the yeast conversion of sugar to alcohol pushes the skins to the top of the vat, forming a cap. We don't want that, so twice a day we get a big potato masher and push the cap back down into the juice to increase contact between the juice and the skins. This continues, with constant tasting (we're always tasting in the winery) until just the right of tannins are present in the flavour profile. The pros call this presence of tannins "structure." This whole process is a huge component of red wine-making, and the best winemakers in the world are experts in tannin management.

It all contributes enormously to the enjoyment of red meats because the tannins actually help to break down the proteins in meat as you are chewing, softening texture and releasing more flavour.

But all red wines aren't huge tannic monsters. Yes we all love those fabulous Australian and California reds whose tannins threaten to strip the skin off the sides of your tongue. But good red wine-making involves expressions of finesse as well as power. In fact, the most expensive red wines in the world, the seductive Pinot Noirs of Burgundy, often have very subtle tannins. Instead, making a great Pinot Nor requires very gentle tannin management, because the complex elegance of Burgundies are more parts finesse than power. Making a great Pinot involves management of some very subtle flavours of earth and truffles and, yes, manure, or "barnyard." Heavy tannins would obstruct those flavours, so winemakers go easy on the tannin extraction to keep those gossamer flavours in the foreground. This is also true with Sangiovese, the grape that makes Chianti, the lovely wine of Tuscany.

It all adds up to a wonderful world of wines that go with many occasions. For that venison roast, a peppery Syrah from British Columbia fills the bill. If you're serving beef tenderloin, the tannins of a California Cabernet, or if budget is no consideration, an exquisite Barolo from Italy's Piedmonte, one of the sturdiest wines in the world, will make a wonderful pairing. But if pork tenderloin is on the menu, or, better still, a leg of lamb from Fir Hill Farm on Pender Island, then there is no better accompaniment than a Pinot Noir.

Cheers!

Keith

Keith Watt is proprietor of Pender Island's Morning Bay Vineyard.