Thanks to the refreshing natural acidity, the multifaceted complexity and the harmonious balance of our cool-climate wines they are exceptionally food friendly. Add to this my passion for flavour profiling and I guess there can be but a few places on earth where the natural partnership of wine and food is embraced more wholeheartedly than here at Creation!
Every so often I am asked about the secrets behind successful wine and food pairing. My answer? Pure alchemy … And by this I mean the fascinating process by which one element transforms another to create a third dimension. How to achieve this? Well, while there are no hard and fast rules for pairing, we at Creation devised a Flavour Wheel as well as a Tasting Chart as basic guides. The latter essentially follows the five primary Taste groups of Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Sour and Umami and also explores the elements of Smell or Aroma, Temperature, Texture and last but not least, Memories and Experience.
Aroma: 80% of flavour is aroma, and this is what fascinates me most at the moment, the perfume of wine! It’s what awakens one’s senses and makes memories.
Taste: 20% of flavour is taste and among the five primary taste groups I find umami and its feel-good factor in terms of metabolic health benefits super interesting. Just think how rewarding and compatible umami-rich dishes are with elegant wines such as the Creation Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Texture: Also described as ‘mouthfeel’ this exciting attribute of a wine or a food causes tactile sensations on the palate. It is best experienced by serving wines with different textures with the same ingredient such as mushrooms, noticing the effect of the weight of the food and the wine on the palate.
Temperature: The effect of temperature on the perceived balance of tannin, acid and consequently the perception of fruit flavours is pivotal to our experience of the structure of a wine. A basic guide is to serve wines with a heavier tannin structure and a lower acidity at a higher temperature than those lower in tannin and higher in acidity.
Mood and Experience: Something to consider and this is really true: emotional enjoyment in terms of the mood, the ambience and the company plays an important role in our appreciation of food and wine. It makes the experience personally meaningful, creating and conjuring up memories.
Master Wine Pairing Through Sommelier Certification
Do you want to become a professional wine pairing master? Take your ultimate wine tasting and pairing experience to a higher level by aiming to become a sommelier. A sommelier is a wine master, highly knowledgeable, and trained in wine tasting, pairing, modern-wine drinking rules, and other wine-related information.
You can become a sommelier either by experience or by taking a sommelier certification course. Reading many books and articles about wine, taking informal wine classes, tasting several types and brands of wine a week, and working in a fine dining restaurant as a server can help you become a sommelier without taking a certification.
But, you don’t have to wait for too long, or experience a long and winding road to become a sommelier. You can take an appropriate sommelier certification course online to master the craft of wine tasting and pairing.
There are five levels of wine certification to become a sommelier or a master of wines. These are:
- Level 1: Basic wine knowledge
- Level 2: Blind tasting proficiency
- Level 3: Comprehension of wine laws, varieties, and major wine regions
- Level 4: Advanced knowledge of winemaking, terroir, and history
- Level 5: Comprehensive wine knowledge and enhanced ability to perform wine-related tasks at an executive level
Some additional tips regarding the successful pairing of wine and food include the fact that good wine is best appreciated when served in varietal-specific glassware that enhances the distinctive nuances of aromatics and texture. Also keep in mind the concept of ‘what grows together, goes together’. What could be more delicious with our cool-climate Creation Chardonnay than fresh crayfish from the nearby Walker Bay? Last but not least I would like to mention the role of visual effect: fresh herbs and flowers pair beautifully with our wines, adding layers of complexity as well as appetite appeal.
