Salad and wine make a good pair, provided that you pay attention to the salad dressing.
Usually, wines of higher acidity are better suited as a complement to raw vegetables. However, when serving salad, the host must also consider the salad dressing. When raw vegetables are topped with a dressing or sauce, the standard vegetable/wine-pairing rules fail. In this case, as the host, you need to know what wine will best suit the salad dressing, not the vegetables in the salad. There are many aspects to consider when pairing wines and salad dressings.
Instructions
1. Decide on what takes precedence: the wine or the salad. If the salad is more important, you need to find a wine to match it. If the wine is more important, choose a complementary salad dressing. No matter which is more important to you, this article can be used in the same way, but let us assume that you already have a choice of salad dressing and need a suitable wine to match it.
2. Determine the vinegar content of your salad dressing. If it contains a large amount of vinegar, do not choose an acidic wine. The taste of the vinegar on the tongue will alter the true flavor of an acidic wine. In this case, stay away from sauvignon-style wines. Less acidic wines such as chardonnay will prove more suitable as a pairing to vinegar-based salad dressings.
3. Assess the overall flavor of your salad dressing. Ask yourself whether the salad dressing is either complex or simple. If you feel the salad dressing has a mix of many flavors, a simple wine will be a suitable choice, as it will not obscure the flavor of your salad dressing. Hence, stay away from more intricate wines such as aged cabernets, and choose a pinot blanc or similarly simple wine.
4. Consider the creaminess of your salad dressing. If it is a thick, creamy dressing, your situation is the opposite of that of a vinegar-rich salad. A creamy dressing is best paired with a wine high in acidity, such as sauvignon blanc.
Tags: salad dressing, your salad, your salad dressing, more important, salad dressing, acidic wine
