One of the fundamental principles behind the best pairing is to understand the food and wine you are serving by analyzing their basic components to enhance your dining experience. You can match them however you like, by textures, flavours or aromas, and even colors can produce beautiful and good pairings(Vinho Verde Rosé DOM DIOGO PADEIRO-Salmão).

The idea is to try to find the right balance where neither the food nor the wine overlap. If you're combining a dish and a wine, it's to create harmony and, by definition, harmony results from balance and, to create balance, you have to respect the intensities. In other words, the dish shouldn't overwhelm the wine, and the wine shouldn't overwhelm the dish.

But even before reading about the best food and wine pairings, you should consider YOUR personal taste. If a combination appeals to you, then it's a good choice!!!

However, you can always experiment at home to find out how to keep the intensity of the flavors in balance, for example:

Acids combine with acids

If you’re eating a dish with a strong acidic content such as fresh cheese salad with rocket, apples and walnuts pair it with an acidic wine that can keep up with the acids in the food – such as DOM DIOGO 100% AZAL or RAZA WHITE.

Wine and spices

Pairing wine with Asian food can be very challenging, as the strong spices can interfere and destroy the flavors of the wine. A DOM DIOGO 100% ARINTO that is not completely dry will go well with a very spicy curry.

Combine with the most dominant flavors of the dish

It is common to think that we need to pair a certain wine with the meat or with the fish. However, in some cases the sauce or cooking method have more influence on the actual taste of the dish. For instance, when you serve duck with a fruit-based sauce such as cherry or orange, choose a tasty rose like  DOM DIOGO 100% PADEIRO.

Salty food such as oysters or barnacles goes very well with drier mineral wines such as our Quinta da Raza with the ALVARINHO and AVESSO grape varieties.

Play with contrasts

We can choose to play on contrasts. Sweet-salty, light-powerful, spicy-syrupy, fatty-bubbly, anything goes! In the end, there are no mistakes in food and wine pairing. If the wine doesn’t work with the dish that you decided to pair it with, then it shouldn’t be considered a mistake. It will only help you in making your decision next time you prepare the same dish.

We recommend trying new, more adventurous pairings, you might find one you like, even if it's unconventional. That's what makes the combination of food and wine exciting! Red wine and cheese are not always the best pair. Find a balance! If you're not sure... it's often a safe bet to pair wine with food from the same region. If you're having Arroz de Sarrabulho or rojões, what better match than a 100% VINHÃO DOM DIOGO vinho verde?