What determines a food and wine match made in heaven? In a word: YOU.

Your ability to gauge what you like and why you like it – and I’m sure you won’t be too disheartened to hear that experimentation is key. While what pleases your palate is determined by, well, your palate - there is a vast array of food and wine matching information on the web, including Kathleen Lisson’s excellent food and wine matching blog and our own food and wine matching section which may help you save both time and money on the road to vinous enlightenment.

Some wines naturally compliment specific dishes by matching or clashing with their components. Perhaps you prefer your wine to match your food– such as a Chablis with a delicate fish? Or maybe you tend to opt for a wine which provides you with the polar opposite of your food, what your meal is missing – a crisp white wine full of acidity to cut through the fat of a dish perhaps?

Peculiar palate pleasers I’ve heard about recently don’t seem so peculiar if you analyse the components of both the food and the wine. How about Champagne to accompany your Fish & Chips or a Shiraz to go with your Pasty? If you think about it, the acidity of the champagne works well to neutralise the fat of the fish & chips, providing you with a refreshing break, whereas the full-bodied and full-flavoured Shiraz can stand up to and compliment the weight and flavours of the pasty. Of course if you don’t like Champagne, Shiraz, Fish & Chips or Pasties, then these food and wine matches aren’t for you!

While some dishes lend themselves to certain wines, there are no right or wrong combinations and the most important variable in finding a great match is you. To my mind the process of tasting is determined by your own unique senses and therefore what is a match made in heaven for one person may not be for you. If you want to discover your own favourite food and wine combinations, try to determine what it is you like about the wines (and food) you tend to go for and don’t forget your preferences may change with age so continue to experiment!

Weird and wacky food favourites? Let us know!