Go ahead, be daring and serve these 3 snacks with red wine

These light finger foods are precisely the kind of things that are going to make your vino taste even better. Picture: Pexels

These light finger foods are precisely the kind of things that are going to make your vino taste even better. Picture: Pexels

Published Apr 25, 2021

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When you are at home, or on a wine trip, or holidays with friends or loved ones, what comes to your mind when your clock meets at four o'clock in the afternoon? Surely you say, “It’s snack time!”

But you probably don’t know what to pick for a snack to pair with your favourite wine. You may not even have much time to cook food that pairs well with your wine. No worries. These light finger foods are precisely the kind of things that are going to make your vino taste even better.

Below we have the perfect snacks you can pick for your next wine tasting tour or wine intimate tasting party, or you can even invite friends overnight and grab a bottle of your favourite wine.

Cheese served to red wine is a classic pairing. Usually, full-bodied wines suit hard cheese better. For instance, full-bodied Shiraz and cheddar match well. If it’s sweet wine, best pair it with blue cheese.

Cheese

Wines with a long finish, such as cabernet sauvignon, demand cheeses with complex flavours that can match that finish. Experts reveal that aged cheddars tend to be the best pairing for various styles of cabernet sauvignon.

Picture: Debbie Yazbek

Cabernet ages like a fine wine. If in doubt, choose aged cheddar. Gouda or Roquefort are also fabulous choices.

Dark chocolate

Dark chocolate works extremely well with many other red wines, and indeed, with many other spirits and drinks — everything from beer to whisky, as well as rum.

Picture: Pexels

They work well in combination because both contain tannins, the chemicals that create a “puckering” and drying sensation in one’s mouth by binding the proteins in your saliva to make it less slippery (technically this is what is called astringency).

Popcorn

Picture: Pexels (Mo Abrahim)

This innovative pairing was introduced at Flagstone wine. Joanne Stone, from 3 Verse communication, said: “We wanted to be more creative with pairing options and everyone was doing chocolate. A colleague said it would be a fun idea to do a popcorn pairing, and I thought about doing spices - it’s cheap, spot on, and can’t go wrong with different flavours because you can do sweet or savoury with the flavour profile."

At Flagstone, the popcorn is paired with their red and white wines.

“Pairing the Viognier with a Cape Malay spice popcorn brings out the fruitiness in the wine, it almost sweetens it,” Stone added.

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