Everyone loves wine and food pairings, even people that don’t drink a lot. There’s something about drinking the “perfect” wine with its “perfect” food match that makes you feel like Rachel Ray.
So how come you still don’t always like the wine you’re served? Even when it’s supposedly paired with it’s edible soul mate? A new book by American Master of Wine, Tim Hanni, has an answer.
Hanni’s book is called “Why You Like The Wines You Like” and his unconventional opinions have earned him the nickname “the wine anti-snob.” He is a trained chef and began working in the wine world in the Napa Valley in the 1980’s as communications director at the Beringer Winery. He noticed that he created food and wine pairing dinners that were in line with the basic principals he’d learned and, like most things in life, some people liked them and some people didn’t. So what gives?
Hanni says you need to pair wines with the diner, not the dinner. He has pinpointed a physiological basis for wine preferences, which he calls a “sensitivity quotient.” Here’s how he breaks them down:
• “Sweets” crave sweetness to mask bitterness, which they find intolerable
• “Hypersensitives” prefer smoother, lighter wines
• “Sensitives” are capable of enjoying a wide range of wines and styles
• “Tolerants” relish the 100-point powerhouse wines
We agree that you should drink what you like (duh.) As for his physiological stuff, we could care less. Do you pair food and wine, based on what is supposed to work well together, or just based on what you’re in the mood for?