An Easy Guide to Matching Food and Wine - Serve, Store & Taste - Wine Basics

To get the right pairing of the right food (or snacks) with the right wine, one has to balance the taste of the wine with the food alongside, keeping in mind the flavor, body, and alcohol. 

It is a good idea to think of the wine as a sauce and added to the food to complement it, without overpowering the taste or delicacy of the dish.

Full-bodied wines go well with full-flavored dishes, while light ones suit more subtle flavors.

• Salty foods can be had with bold, tannic wines like Barolo or Chianti
• Acidic food can balance out or cancel the acid in the wine, so one needs to ensure the wine is slightly more acidic than the food.
• In the case of spicy foods, avoid tannic or oaky red wines, and lean towards a sweeter, rich and off-dry wine.
• Creamy, buttery or oily foods complement well with equally rich and buttery wine, surprisingly. Deep-fried foods like fried chicken, fish and chips can be had with sharper, cutting wines to counteract the oiliness
• Umami cuisine (a rage in the UK) is best had with red wine which is not ‘brashly structured’.