It’s never easy when you are preparing a dinner party with your friends and you come to the vital part of having to pair the food with your wine. Obviously you want to impress with your food and you don’t want the wine to detract from the sumptuous feast you have good up – what you really want is a wine that makes it taste even better!

I always think it is a good idea not to overspend when choosing your wine and with discounts, such as groupon vouchers, you can always keep the price down. There is always the temptation to splash out, but you don’t need to spend a fortune finding a decent wine that pairs well with your food.

I really didn’t know where to start a few years ago, but after getting some great advice from friends and also reading a lot I found some rules that you should always stick to. By following these simple rules you will wow your guests and be safe in the knowledge that their taste buds will be buzzing with the flavours you serve up.

Don’t be too bitter

Each and everyone of us have tastebuds that are extremely sensitive to bitter tastes, so it is extremely important to make sure that you do not make the mistake of pairing bitter foods with high tannin wine. For example, if you pair green beans with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon you will only bring out a strong bitter taste. If you are set on pairing a high tannin wine then you should be looking to serve up foods which are fatty, umami and also salt that will balance it out.

The wine should be sweeter

A rule of thumb is that the wine should always be sweeter that the food being eaten – remember this and you will almost always successfully pari your food and wine. If you choose a bottle that is not as west as the food you pair it with then it will taste bitter.

The wine must be more tart

For a successful wine pairing the food must have a lower acidity that the wine, otherwise the wine will fall short and taste flabby. A good example of this is that a salad with a vinaigrette will always taste better when washed down with an extra brut champagne as opposed to a Chardonnay that will taste buttery.