Ahhh Help

[Randy Caparoso]

It's true that warm climate wines are often augmented with added acidity. But I'd bet any money that we've all enjoyed lots of California and Australian wines, blissfully unaware of their acidication. Just as we've enjoyed tons of French and German wines, blissfully unaware of the sugar added to them before AND after fermentation.

Be as it may, I'm sorry to hear about anyone's feet getting roasted over the fire because of me. But let me throw in my two cents on the subject of acidity, with and without food...

I would think that the actual effect of acidity -- i.e. how the palate perceives it -- varies from varietal to varietal, country to country, wine to wine, vintage to vintage, etc. The best we can all do is speak in generalities -- like, Barbera is more acidic than Sangiovese, which is more acidic than Pinot Noir, which is more acidic than Merlot, etc.

Acidity -- like tannin, alcohol, sugar, and other major taste elements -- is also a relative perception. It can be altered by a dish, an individual's personal taste, the time of day, and a host of other factors. But in my 25 years of watching people consume wine in restaurants, I've found that what most people don't like are wines that taste too tart, or too bitter, or too sweet, etc. Hence, I always base my generalities on how best to balance things out for the largest percentage of people.

Finally, I hope no one thinks that I believe only wines with good acidity are good with food. California Chardonnays and Cabernets, for instance, are relatively low in acidity, but obviously are perfectly wonderful with a host of different dishes. In fact, dishes that would make more acidic varietals (like Sauvignon Blanc and Barbera) taste terrible. There's a good match for all good wines.

Acidity is important, but far from the only factor in sensible food/wine matching. If anything, the most important factor for all wines, as it is for all dishes, is a sense of balance. Because poorly balanced wines, like unbalanced dishes, are difficult to enjoy with anything.


[This message has been edited by Randy Caparoso (edited 03-24-2002).]